People Whom the Stars Watch
by Writingathing
Summary: Between a religious and political revolution, a university professor who rants about quanta and nuclear fusion, a guild of beggars with a bone to pick with the biggest industrialist in Republic City, and a Malaysian vampire freed from the Spirit World after seven hundred years, Republic City needs a hero. But Korra isn't the sort to wear a mask...
1. The Girl Who Talks to Stars

For six months the South Pole was dark, and for six months the South Pole was light. The time when the dark became light was known as Dawn, the return of the sun, and all the Avatar had to do was not mess it up.

"What if I mess it up?" Korra asked.

"You won't mess it up," Arnook said.

Korra leaned over the edge of the kayak and stared at the black water sloshing below. She was definitely going to mess it up.

She peeked behind the boat, daring Arnook's wrath. Before he could snap at her she turned around again, but there was something comforting about the sight of two dozen kayaks following their own, Katara and all the Angakunekut come to guide and watch the Avatar. Come to watch her. The kayak gently rocked in the water. Korra grabbed the sides and looked up. Above her—them—loomed the iceberg. Against the dark night sky it gazed sternly downward like the dark scowl buried within the shadow of Arnook's beard. It was split down the middle.

The kayak bumped up against the iceberg, but Korra didn't get off. There were bad spirits who had made the iceberg their home. Katara was supposed to chase them away with her ilisinek, but the other boats were slow in arriving and Korra grew bored.

"How come Katara gets rid of the spirits and not me? I'm the Avatar."

"Your spiritual powers are not sufficiently developed," Arnook muttered.

Korra worked her mouth around the phrase "sufficiently developed." Arnook used bigger words when he was in a bad mood. Korra didn't know why Arnook was in a bad mood, but it made things not fun.

"Maybe the spirits aren't there," she said, trying to joke or cheer him up. "I can't see them. I've never seen them."

His scowl grew more intense. "They are there. You need to connect with your spiritual self. Calling the Dawn is an important step."

"Who is the Dawn?"

"A spirit."

"I never seen her either! If she wants to pay us a visit so bad she can bring a fish to your tent." She grinned. It was a joke, but Arnook didn't bite.

"You have to call her."

"Why?"

"Enough questions! Quiet, Korra, and focus on your spiritual self. Try. For me." He hunched over in the back of the kayak, apparently done.

Korra tried to focus on her spiritual self. She always tried! He just never told her how. She didn't know what her spiritual self was or how she would know if she was focusing on it. There was a part of her that spoke inside her own head and listened to it just the same. But that was just her. Not like focusing on it made the little raya come out.

The other boats arrived. Korra realized she was running her fingers over the cracks in the iceberg. Katara got out. She had to walk on the water to do that. She was amazing, the best and nicest waterbender in the world, and Korra wanted Katara to be her master.

The Angakunekut were chanting something, summoning the tornat, but Katara didn't need help. She was the Inua of Waves and could do anything with water. She was doing it now, drawing the water in two spiraling columns around the iceberg, but when Korra craned her neck to watch, Arnook's callused hand landed on her shoulder.

"Straighten up. Focus. The village's eyes are on you."

Probably only the fact that they were at the iceberg kept Arnook from launching into a full lecture on how not standing upright would cause the collapse of the village. But Arnook was always lecturing her. Your Role As Mediator Between Spirits and People. The Avatar's Duties Privileges, and Responsibilities: Part 1 of 100. Then, after those failed to take, Arnook focused on more basic subjects. Sit Up Straight and Don't Fidget. Polar Bear Dogs Are Not Your Friends. No, You Can't Stick The Other Girls In Blocks of Ice Because They Made Fun of Your Ponytail.

She always answered his lectures the same way. "I understand, Arnak," and tried to stifle a laugh. "Arnak" meant "woman," a pun Korra found endlessly hilarious.

Arnook got mad when she didn't take things seriously, but he didn't get how tough being the Avatar was. Case in point: every six months she had to climb an iceberg and Call the Moon or Return the Sun. It's not like Arnook could tell her how.

"Trust your instincts," Arnook said. "I know you're nervous. Your past lives, all the previous Avatars, will guide you."

Korra looked behind herself reflexively. "I've never seen them before. Maybe they're out pissing?"

"I know you can do it, Korra. I believe in you."

"Whale snot, Arnook." She rolled her eyes, fighting a blush. "I'll do it. No need to embarrass the both of us acting all girly."

Katara was done ilisineking the bad spirits away. Korra began her climb up the mountain. Actually, she could have probably just bended herself right up, but Arnook had said she would climb up the iceberg, and besides bending was too easy, too fast. So instead she dug her fingers into the prickly ice and clambered to the top. She stumbled once or twice but that was fine. She didn't have big legs yet.

At the top Korra balanced with her legs on either side of the deep crack splitting the iceberg and looked up. The green and red sheets of the southern lights danced in the sky like the waves of heaven. That was Dawn, Arnook had said, at least the green part. Now she just had to let her soul fly out of her body, soar to the edge of the ocean where it rose up to touch the sky, and tell the sun to come visit. That's what Arnook said, anyway.

Korra shivered on top of the iceberg. She wondered how weird it must have been to wake up and find that it's One Hundred Years Later and Everything Has Changed. What if Aang hadn't slept for a hundred years and died earlier? Would she have even been born?

That scared her. She got to talking quick with the Moon and the Sun and the Dawn and everything else that was supposed to be floating up there.

"Why hello Mr. Moon," she said. "I'm here to say goodbye. Please come back soon."

"Hello, Avatar Korra," the moon responded in her best impression of a baritone. "I'd love to come back."

"And hello to you, Ms. Dawn. Feel free to let the sun shine."

"No problem, Avatar Korra," the dawn replied in a falsetto. "Your ponytail is lovely, by the way."

After she got bored of that game, she started naming stars.

"That's the Runners," she said, looking at three stars all in a line. "And those are the Dogs and those are the Nephews and Nieces. The Old Woman," Korra thought of Katara, "And the Murdered Man." There was supposed to be a fox in the sky too, but Korra couldn't find him.

The stars would go away if the sun visited, right? They looked like broken fragments of ice scattered over the black ocean. Ice melted though. Stars stayed the same forever. Arnook wouldn't let her go to the observatory east of their village, but she still sought out all the constellations and their stories like pockets of warmth in the desert.

"That's where I belong," Korra thought. "Maybe I can ask the sun to stay away for a bit." But then she got to worrying that it would if she asked. People would notice.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Aang," she whispered.

But he didn't answer. She looked down at all the waiting villagers, Katara watching proudly from beside the Angakunekut, Arnook's tense face. All of them looked up at her from the kayaks around the iceberg.

Korra felt a glow of pride. She was up here Avataring, somehow, and the whole village depended on her to bring the sun for a while. It was her job to do it right.

She wagged her finger at the sky. "Now listen to me, Sun. You've got to come for a while or I'll put the meanest ilisinek on you like you've never felt before. And Ms. Moon, not that we haven't enjoyed your stay, but it's time for a change. Hoping you'll come back before long though." She lowered her hand and glanced back at the villagers and Arnook below. Good enough. She gave the night stars one last longing look and slid down the iceberg, mostly on her butt.

Arnook gathered her in his arms and squeezed her tight. "You did it. Well done." Korra heartened at that. Somehow she had done it.

But later she admitted to Arnook that she didn't remember flying out of her body or talking to any spirits at all, not really. He said she wasn't remembering due to her lack of a connection with her spiritual self. When she asked how to get a connection with her spiritual self, Arnook told her to pay more attention to his lectures.

So it went every six months. Korra pretended to talk to the spirits, and they must have pretended to listen, for the light and darkness came and went as scheduled every year. It felt more right than anything, seeing the moon come and go on schedule, although the moments just before were always nerve-wracking—she could never shake the feeling that one day the moon was going to surprise her.

Korra brought the night and day—and learned bending.

She danced forward, muscles surging. The ground pushed back, urging her own, and Korra struck. As she watched the far ice tear away, she thought, This is real. This I can see, touch, feel. She moved forward—struck again—it was better.

Arnook nodded.

Earth next. Feet planted, knees apart. Muscles—not tense, but ready. The boulder came, and Korra cleaved it with her bare hands. It smashed behind her, the imported rock cracking under her feet like thin ice. She wasn't a fake Avatar. If the sun had a problem with that, she'd figure out how to bend it too.

Arnook said fire would be the hardest, being her opposite or whatever, but there was a lot of tunnu around that yak. She picked up fire easier than gripping a spear, and her flames flew truer. She celebrated by cooking fish for Naga and her to share. It tasted much better blackened than boiled in water. Arnook complained, but he always complained about her going off with her pet polar bear dog. Something about having a vicious beast for a friend made him nervous. He could stay nervous. She was a firebender.

Now she waited for Tenzin.

The last element was air, and Tenzin was the only airbending master in the world. The villagers loved him, calling him the Inua of storms though he was pale as a baby and wore robes of saffron—only the arrow tattoo on his shaven head was blue. For Korra, he was the dream of herself. He was coming, flying on the back of a sky bison to teach her airbending.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Korra, but our training together will have to be delayed."

Korra didn't look Tenzin in the eyes. Instead she looked at the blue arrow point between them.

"Why?"

"I am a Representative, a council member of Republic City, and right now…well, things aren't very stable, and I need to be there to take care of matters."

Korra stared at him.

"Korra, I am truly sorry. I know how important it is to you to complete your training—"

"No, you don't," Korra said.

"—But right now the city is a very dangerous place, especially for an excitable, untrained Avatar running about."

Korra searched for a response. Anger came up. "I can't believe this! I'm the Avatar! You—there's no one else! You have to train me!"

Tenzin moved his hand towards Korra's shoulder, but she knocked it away.

"Korra, Republic City is nearing a crisis. You, the Avatar, are too precious to be risked. Your training will wait until this trouble has passed."

"Then why did you even come here?"

"In order to see my mother, and to discuss some matters with Arnook, and above all, to check on you. I may not be able to visit for some time."

Arnook spoke. "Korra, I agree with Tenzin. As much as I would like to see your training completed as soon as possible, now is not the time."

"You!" Korra rounded on him. "You said something, you did this, you know he can't stay here and you didn't want me to leave!"

"No, Korra," Tenzin said. "I decided this on my own. Arnook has also learned of my decision just now."

"But I'm the Avatar!" Korra cried. "If Republic City is unstable, let me bring balance to it. I've got to start doing that stuff sometime, don't I?"

"No, in this case...bringing the Avatar to Republic City might just make things worse. This is one problem the Avatar can't solve."

"Would you say that to your father, if he was still alive?"

Tenzin looked shocked, but Arnook interrupted.

"Korra! I think there's been enough of this. Tenzin showed generosity and respect in coming here and telling you himself. He does not need to listen to your childish tantrums. You are the Avatar, and you will behave as such."

Korra hesitated to speak; they would be able to hear the catch in her throat. "I thought you of all people would want my training done as quickly as possible, Arnook. I'm the Avatar. Aang told the White Lotus to search for the next Avatar—to search for me—and watch over my training. Why aren't you telling Tenzin to take me with him?"

"Both because I do not command Tenzin and because his assessment is correct," Arnook said. "And because power is a responsibility that can only grow alongside patience and understanding. Your selfishness today is unbecoming of an Avatar."

"Then when am I going to finish my training?" Her voice was a whisper, and it cracked.

"I promise I will return to train you as soon as possible," Tenzin said.

Korra's eyes flickered. She didn't answer.

The next day Tenzin left on his flying bison. It took two weeks later for a merchant ship to arrive at the port, and two months for the ship, now commandeered by an escapee Avatar and her pet polar bear dog, to return to its point of origin. That was why when the Avatar landed at Republic City the revolution had already begun.


	2. Arrested by Republic City

From a distance Republic City gleamed white and was terribly bright. Even during the day—which was night a moment ago! She didn't have anything to do with it! Korra was excited by that, and frightened—fires of all different colors flickered high above the city. They were beacons, Korra decided. War?

But up close Republic City was just one thing: loud. The steam engine had been bad enough, like the roar of a polar bear dog in your ear that never stopped for two months, but after a while she could drown it out somehow.

Republic City assaulted her like…like firebending, was the only thing Korra could think to compare it to. It was the same thing and it wasn't, always moving and changing. Arnook said fire, water, and the stars were the only three things in the world people could look at forever and not get bored. Korra didn't miss that she was the only person in the world who could speak to all three. Anyway, she couldn't turn off Republic City, not even with both hands clapped over her ears.

When Korra felt like she could lower her hands, she realized she had stumbled quite a ways from the ship. The terrified crew was probably happy to see the back of her and Naga, her thousand-pound polar bear dog. It was a thousand pounds of cute, Korra always said, but most people—like Arnook—focused on the rolls of fat insulating muscles strong enough to rip a human's head off without so much as straining.

Korra took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. The air was warm and salty, but it was also poisonous. It had her on the ground, coughing and choking as her lungs tried to reject the very air. How am I supposed to learn airbending, she thought as tears streamed from her eyes, when I can't even breathe the air? Finally she gave a horrible, retching cough and managed to straighten up. She realized no one had come to help her. The Naga Effect, maybe, but someone could have at least called from a distance away. No one so much as looked, not even at Naga. Their eyes just…slid away, like they didn't care.

"Welcome to Republic City," Korra muttered. "The sky doesn't listen to the Avatar, breathing kills you, and no one cares."

Well. She would shake things up a little. People would get used to caring what the Avatar did.

Feeling bold, Korra set off with Naga in tow. The streets were thick with people who wore clothes that all looked the same, grey and tight, made in pieces that fit together like a puzzle. Korra much preferred her own blue tank top and thick pants. The heavy fur coat had been lost on the ship, not that Korra minded. She hadn't realized how light she could feel. She thought about getting rid of the boots too, but now she was glad she hadn't. If the very air here was poison, who knew what the earth did to you?

Loud, smoke-spewing ships called…cars clanked and banged through the street between the two streaming rows of people. Korra decided that she hated them. She also wanted to row one. Steer one…whatever.

Naga wouldn't go more than two feet without stopping to sniff up against, and occasionally expel pungent urine against, a sign, a shop, and sometimes a person. Most people were giving Naga a wide berth. Even in the South Pole polar bear dogs were Bad News. Korra could only imagine what the city-people used to warmth and sun all the time were going through as a polar bear dog walked down the street. Probably the same thing she felt when she saw a car.

"Don't worry, she's with me," Korra said loudly to the growing crowd of onlookers. "I'm the Avatar! Go about your business, citizens!"

That worked to dispel them. Korra nodded, satisfied, as she watched the crowd relax and fall apart into separate clumps.

"Just another screwy Dora," said a man with a strange blur that Korra couldn't make sense of around his eyes. She focused, and realized he was wearing spectacles. "Thinks she's the Avatar. Before you know it she'll be 'cleansing you of spirits' for a tenth-jiang on a street corner."

Korra's eyes tracked him.

"What did you say?" she snapped, indignant, but he wasn't even looking at her anymore. She reached out and flicked two fingers at him. The ground itself hilled and rumbled toward him in two parallel rows, looking like a pair of burrowed animals digging their way forward underground.

The earth wrapped around his feet, and before he could so much as shout Korra's fingers jerked back, and so did the ground, pulling him along the path the two rows had just made. Korra caught him, spun him around by the shoulder and pushed him down as her foot rocked back on its heel, making a seat of earth rise out of the street that he fell onto with a surprised scream. He had clearly expected to fall farther. Korra knew that, and liked it.

With one hand on his shoulder firmly holding him down, Korra made a flame with the other. His eyes were drawn to it like they were bugs.

"Know who I am now, chump?"

He swallowed. "You're the A-Avatar." His accent was thick, but she understood.

He was trying to lean away from the fire and not getting anywhere with her hand firmly holding him down. He knew who she was. She released him and called Naga, who was taking the opportunity to pee in front of a group of women, who seemed appropriately terrified. Holding Naga firmly by the thick fat around her neck, Korra marched down the street. The crowd parted for her like a procession of Angakunekut. Cars stopped and meekly backed away as the Avatar and her polar bear dog made their way through the city.

"Quite the flying bison you got there, Miss Avatar!"

Korra turned. A strange man, thin and scruffy, with a coat too big and pants too short, grinned at her from the corner of the street. The hairs on his badly shaved beard pointed in a dozen directions, and his eyes seemed to dart toward them all at different points. Underneath a battered hat his smile stretched and moved around on his face like an uncomfortable cat.

"She's a polar bear dog," Korra said.

"You're not an Air Nomad?" He seemed surprised. "I know…you're from the Fire Nation!"

Korra gestured at her blue clothes. "Nope, Southern Water Tribe." She grinned. "Victors of the Intertribal Bending Championship three years running." Being the Avatar she hadn't been allowed to participate, but that hadn't stopped her from showing up and cheering more loudly than anyone else.

"Well!" he said. "I'm Nuodon, and this is my street corner. If you want to do any begging, you have to find another one."

"What?"

"That fellow over yonder said as you were inclining to offer spirit-cleaning for tenth-bits on the street. Can't do that on my street. Got to find your own."

Korra grinned uncertainly. "How about the next one?"

"No good. Reserved."

"And the one on the other side?"

"Booked, I'm afraid."

"Maybe I'll take this one then."

"That'd get you into trouble with the guild."

Korra's eyebrows went up. "The guild?"

"The Beggar's Guild. Never heard of us? Let me guess: you're a young girl, sitting in your Air Temple with Guru Pappy, and he's telling you all about the wonders of life as a beggar in Republic City. So with air in your head you touch down on my street, thinking you can expect us to just roll over, but you didn't even do your research! Times have changed, Avatar! We're organized now."

Korra stared.

"What?"

"You don't happen to have a jiang or three that you can spare, Miss Avatar? I'd be much obliged."

"…What's a jiang?"

"Ha! Some beggar! A jiang, a bone, a clam, a dime-dime, a fiver minus five, dough, girl, it's how bread gets made!"

"I don't know very much about the city yet," Korra admitted.

"I'll show you around."

"Really?"

"For a price."

"I'll cleanse you of bad spirits."

"You'll do me a favor. I'm not saying now."

"Aren't you supposed to beg?"

"Please let me show you around?"

Korra's grin widened. "Ever had a ride on a polar bear dog before?"

Nuodon did not take well to traveling on the back of a polar bear dog.

"C-Can't your flying bison fly any lower?" he groaned. "She's going to get us all killed!"

"She's not a…never mind."

For the first time Korra appreciated the pains Arnook had taken to teach her about the outside world as Nuodon took her into it. Street signs pointed their way—Market Street, Park Street, Pewter Street—and the shop signs boasted gramophones, light bulbs that lasted forever, trousers and leather shoes—Korra wasn't quite sure what any of it meant, but at least she could read the signs.

"You want a light bulb."

Korra jerked out of her reverie. Her neck hurt from rotating back and forth. She wished she could make it go all the way around like the sea owls.

"A light bulb," Nuodon repeated. He was talking slow, she realized, so she could understand his thick city accent. "All the city is on fire because of these. Bad business, lightningbending."

"Lightningbending?" Korra gasped. But that was impossible. Nuodon caught her eye and laughed.

"Of course! Lightning is a liquid, you know. The Avatar should be able to bend it. But it was nonbenders like me who figured it out."

"Like you?"

"Like us. Like we. Hm. Not like me, maybe, but it was nonbenders. Anyway, you need a light bulb. It's practically a, a…there's a word, starts with arr. It's a thing you do. Go through. Happens to you. Like the direction. An up."

"A rite?"

"That's it. It's a rite of passage. Everyone wants a light bulb. It's a, a…there's a word, starts with ess. It's a, uh, like a thing that tells you where you are, who you are."

"Stick? Spear?"

"Thing on a drum. Symbol. Yeah. Jazz. You'll learn. Anyway. Got to have a light bulb because of jazz."

"What's jazz?"

"Jazz is made up! Tradition goes the way of the candle in a city of light bulbs. But take it slow, slow, because the city moves fast. You'll get in trouble thinking you know everything."

Korra bowed exaggeratedly. "I apologize, citybending master."

Nuodon motioned to a shop advertising the things. Korra slid off Naga and went inside. A man behind a wooden counter eyed her blue clothes and ponytail as she made her way to the small, see-through bulbs. There was something in them, something that looked like alive, like a thin bug, and they had a metal base.

"Wow," Korra said loudly, making sure the man's eyes were on her. "This, uh, lightbulb here is really…light-y. I'm so envious. I don't have a lightbulb like this. Woe is me!"

Korra waited. The man stared at her.

"I said, this light bulb is just amazing." Korra held it up, admiring the…glass, was it? "I would be deeply grateful if someone could make me a light bulb like this."

The man continued to stare. Korra began to sweat. He was a tough bargainer. The fish merchants back home would've gotten frostbite from this guy's stare.

"It would be especially good to have such a great light bulb because I'm the Avatar," Korra said exaggeratedly.

"Three jiangs," the man grunted.

"What?"

"Three jiangs."

"I…don't have any bread."

"What?"

"Three jiangs?"

"Yes."

"I…I could get bread?"

"What?"

"Three jiangs?"

"Yes!"

"I'm taking a light bulb," Korra said, holding one up. She could hear Arnook lecturing her already, but directness was more important than politeness when dealing with someone who was clearly insane. "Thanks. Smooth waves, huh? Let me know if you need any. Got to schedule with Ar—with Tenzin."

"Three jiangs," the shopkeep said.

Korra headed out the door. "Tenzin'll send some over. Enjoy the moon, no bad ilisinek. Avatar promise."

"Three jiangs!"

Korra paused on the doorstep. "I said no bad ilisinek. No raya in your crib, huh, but that can change."

"Fresh off the boat?" The shopkeeper shifted, leaning forward on the counter.

"Yes."

"Right. See your type all the time. Way we do things here is, you have to pay to buy. With money. Now. No promising me your mother's potatoes a month from now. It'll be three jiangs or put the light bulb back."

Korra looked outside. Nuodon waved at her.

"I'm the Avatar. You can make an exception."

"Yeah, and I'm the Fire Lord. Now put down some money or put down the light bulb. Don't make me call the cops."

Korra didn't know what kind of animal a cop was, but she knew they weren't a match for Naga. Besides, he was being incredibly rude. She waved the light bulb once, winked at him, and walked out, oblivious to his shouts.

"Good job," Nuodon said. "It needs power though."

"I'm powerful."

"Not like that. Got to hook it up. To the city itself." He was smiling. "Did you pay for it?"

"No. Was I supposed to?"

Nuodon shrugged, his shoulders out of sync as Naga began to plod down the street with them on her back. "If you didn't pay, then you begged or stole. Did you steal it?"

"No!"

"Then you begged it. Makes you an initiate."

"An initiate?"

"In the guild, of course. We have meetings. You could meet the queen!"

Korra laughed. "You guys have a queen?"

"Of course we have a queen!" Nuodon seemed almost insulted. "Found her one day all washed up. Now she makes radios. A proper queen."

Korra wanted a gramophone next. She didn't know what it was, exactly, but she liked the sound of it. Nuodon pointed the way, but their path was blocked by people.

Korra knew too much about water to call it a sea of people. But there were a lot of them marching down the street, and they were angry.

"What are they saying?" Korra shouted to Nuodon over the chanting crowd.

"You must be guided by fate, Avatar," Nuodon said, gazing up at the buildings around the street. "Today is a good day for stealing."

Korra hadn't stolen anything, but she followed Nuodon's gaze. People in shiny grey dress perched along the parapet and on footholds overhead. More of them were placed around the crowd, looking tense.

"Are they metalbenders?" Korra gasped. "That's so cool!"

"Not friends of the guild," Nuodon muttered. "How fast can this sky bison of yours fly?"

"What's going on?"

Nuodon slid clumsily off of Naga and landed on the ground in a crouch.

"I'll let the queen know you were arrested," he muttered, shuffling away like a crab. "Stay away from metalbenders."

Korra barely watched him go. She had never seen so many people in one place. There were at least a hundred people marching down the street, watched by the metalbenders. No…they kept coming. More than a hundred.

They were shouting things, but it was all jumbled up and too fast. Korra couldn't understand. Then part of the crowd bulged, swelling like a sore. More shouting. An argument. Someone threw something, and the metalbender lashed out. Two thick long metal cords flew from his arms, and someone in the crowd collapsed, screaming and clutching their face.

Korra moved. Protecting the Innocent was like rule number one of being the Avatar. Naga couldn't get through a crowd this thick quickly unless she was willing to break some bones, but when Korra shoved people aside they got angry, not dead. She stepped over the screaming person. Healing had been the only part of waterbending that didn't come easily to her. There were other people in front of her, and more metal cables flying through the air, grabbing people's arms, tripping them, wrapping them up and pulling them away from the crowd. Behind her Naga lumbered slowly through the crowd, nudging people aside as gently as a half-ton of muscle and fat possibly can.

Korra's hand snaked out and caught a metal cable in the air.

"Stop," she said. "I'm the Avatar."

He heaved on the cable, trying to tug it out of her grip. Korra bent the earth around her feet, locking herself in place, and she scattered fire in front of his eyes. He yelped in alarm, stumbling backwards.

"I'm the Avatar," Korra repeated. One of the metalbenders stamped the ground several times so hard Korra could feel the vibrations.

Korra was aware of a murmur spreading behind her.

"The Avatar is here—"

"The Avatar is on our side—"

But the metalbenders didn't stop either. Korra was surprised by that, and wondered who she should attack. Naga came up behind her, and the stamping increased, became almost frantic.

A woman with grey hair and a scar on her cheek appeared a moment later. There was a golden insigne on her metal armor, and she snapped at one of the metalbenders, "There's rioting up Pewter Street. What's going on?"

The metalbender gestured at Korra—no, at Naga. The woman's gaze followed his finger.

"There was a report of a shopkeeper complaining about a girl in blue with a beast who robbed his store," she said. "The girl claimed to be the Avatar."

"She can firebend and earthbend, Chief Beifong," the metalbender said.

Chief Beifong's eyes set on Korra appraisingly. She seemed to come to a decision.

"Metalbenders, arrest the Avatar."


	3. Different People, Same Reasons

A woman in a light green robe sat in a garden teeming with little foxes. They scampered about the grass, fighting and playing in the enclosure while a young boy struggled to recount what he had seen.

"…They started fighting, miss, the Avatar and all the metalbenders. Her dog too, miss."

"Her bear, you mean."

"Yes, miss. She didn't seem to like the metal much, miss. The Avatar, I mean. Miss. It got real hot, miss, because of all the fire, but they took her down, miss, and the dog too. Bear. Miss."

Oma inspected her fingernails. They were painted red with perfect evenness and immaculately cut. It took a long time to learn to prepare her nails like that.

"What happened next?"

"I think her light bulb got smashed, miss. She had a light bulb, miss."

"The one she stole."

"Yes, miss."

"Go on."

"Some folks didn't like it, miss. So they got arrested too. Um."

"What?"

"Didn't seem right, miss."

"The Avatar broke the law. Anyone else would have been arrested."

"Yes, miss."

"But your people—but people are upset?"

"Yes, miss. Seemed unfair, miss."

"The Avatar is a charming woman."

"Yes, miss. I think everyone was surprised, miss."

"Why?"

"She was on our side, miss."

"The Avatar didn't know who the Equalists were," Oma pointed out. "And you are not an Equalist. She saw a situation unfolding that she did not grasp in its entirety—that she did not get—and charged in."

"Yes, miss. Still, miss. Seemed...seemed like fate, miss."

"It was a coincidence."

"Yes, miss." The boy fidgeted.

Oma took out a half-jiang and tossed it to him—it helped not to touch. "I want you to follow that girl. I want to hear everything about her. Do you understand? Everything. What she does, what she says, where she goes, what others say about her. Everything."

"Yes miss."

"That's a half-jiang every week. Now get out of my garden."

The boy left, casting glances behind him at the playing foxes. Oma's mind was already running. The Avatar was in Republic City, presumably to master airbending. Yet Tenzin had said at the last meeting of the Council that he was not bringing the Avatar with him. Some other motive, then.

Avatars had a way of showing up at the right place at the worst time. It was almost enough to make one believe in all that nonsense about fate and destiny. No, Avatars were trouble, but they could be predicted, and anything that could be predicted could be controlled. The question was how.

Suddenly Oma felt peckish. She regretted sending the boy away. No—she couldn't start that again. Best that he was gone.

* * *

"Let me out of here!"

Korra slammed the metal cuffs around her wrists against the bars of the cell. She glared at the guard standing outside it. "Are you even listening to me?"

He fidgeted nervously. "Not supposed to talk to prisoners."

"I'm not a prisoner, I'm the Avatar. Now let me out! That's an order!"

"C-Can't talk to prisoners. Chief Beifong's orders. Um."

"I outrank Chief Whoever!" Korra grinned. "Besides, you're already talking to me."

The guard clapped a hand over his mouth. "Mmph!"

"You've already disobeyed. Once you start to fall down the mountain the only way to land safely is to keep sliding."

"What?"

Korra narrowed her eyes. There were a lot of stupid people in Republic City. She needed to be more direct.

"Let me out or I'll curse you."

The blood drained from his face. "W-Wait, I can't—"

"The meanest ilisinek, and the air's so salty I could probably get it to eat the flesh from your bones. Got kids? Little brother or sister? How about a raya in their beds? Huh? You'll be hounded by spirits all your life. Can't save money, always tripping over nothing and losing things you just set down a minute ago. But that's just the start. You won't be able to sleep for teethy dreams. A hole in your gut, a pain in your head, aging twice as fast. And don't you ever have kids. Because if you ever have kids they'll—"

"Stop! Please!"

An anticipatory smile spread over Korra's face. "They'll wish you had let me out."

The guard wavered. The door slammed open. He jumped as another officer walked in.

"The chief wants the Avatar brought in for questioning," the officer said. "Unlock her cell."

Korra leered at the guard. "See? I'm a prophet."

The room the officer brought her to was grey and bare except for a wooden table and two chairs. Korra sat at one of them. A few minutes later Chief Beifong came in and sat down at the other. Beifong was a severe, grey-haired woman who instantly fixed Korra in her glare.

"You are," Chief Beifong read off a document, "Charged with obstructing the police, assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, smuggling an exotic animal into Republic City, illegally entering Republic City without the requisite paperwork, theft—"

"Paperwork?" Korra cried. "What's paperwork?"

"Thank you for the confession." Chief Beifong put down the document. "Let's get to the point. You're the Avatar. Why are you here?"

Korra raised an eyebrow. Chief Beifong raised her eyebrow higher. Korra cocked her head. Chief Beifong cocked her head at a sharper angle. Korra stared into her eyes. Chief Beifong had a stare like a snake on amphetamines.

"To become inducted into the Guild of Beggars—"

"OH BULL—"

The door opened. Tenzin walked into the room.

Beifong cursed.

"Ah, Lin, you look radiant as ever," he said brightly. "I heard the Avatar was arrested—here she is. Wonderful. Thank you so much for your help, Lin, and I do apologize for any trouble she has caused. Now if I could just take her off your hands—"

"Don't try to sweet-talk me, Tenzin. She's under arrest."

"Yes, and I take full responsibility—"

"No."

Tenzin gazed at Beifong. "Do you really mean to charge the Avatar?"

"She broke the law. My metalbenders arrested her. We do that to people who break the law."

"But I'm the Avatar!" Korra said.

"Yes. And I'm arresting you. I would arrest Hiroshi Sato or Tenzin here as well. If I break the law, I expect my officers to arrest me. That is how we do things in Republic City."

Korra was shocked by the injustice of it all. "But I'm the _Avatar_. I don't think you understand."

"I do." Beifong turned to Tenzin. "Are you her lawyer, or would you like to leave now?"

"I would like to leave now," Korra said loudly.

"Korra, be quiet," Tenzin snapped. Korra's eyes widened. Tenzin's expression looked very much like Arnook's when Korra would talk out of turn or pick her nose at an important spiritual ceremony. She felt bad. Tenzin was probably panicking behind his steady blue arrow.

"Didn't even do anything wrong," Korra mumbled.

Tenzin faced Beifong. "May I ask what you are planning to do with the Avatar?"

"Fine her a hundred jiangs and ship her off to the North Pole," Beifong grunted.

"South Pole, South Pole!" Korra said before Tenzin could interrupt. He sighed.

"Lin, if you could please release the Avatar into my custody, I will accept full responsibility for the events that have transpired. I will pay for bail, for anything she has stolen or damaged, for hospital bills, and I will make sure that Korra is swiftly returned to the South Pole."

Korra stuck out her lower lip petulantly. She could always find another boat to commandeer.

"If not," Tenzin added, "I'll have to fight this battle. I do have a lawyer, in fact. He's quite good. You will find it is very difficult to make charges stick to an Avatar. Besides, the city has already seen you arrest the Avatar. The equality of the law has been upheld."

Korra didn't get what Tenzin was talking about. But she saw the changes in Beifong's hard jawline.

"Fine, get her out of my sight," Beifong said, flicking her fingers. The metal cuffs fell off Korra's wrists.

"Don't forget Naga!" Korra said. "You had better not have hurt her."

"Your monster is in holding," Beifong said dismissively. "Take her and leave."

"She's not a monster, she's a puppy," Korra muttered as she followed Tenzin out of the room. "Those big teeth of hers are for loving."

Tenzin didn't say a word till they had retrieved Naga and left the prison. Korra stretched her arms, enjoying the freedom and the sun beating down on her face. Naga had missed her master, and didn't seem to be able to go five seconds without pressing her huge wet nose into the back of Korra's neck.

Tenzin took them down the street. Korra thought he would yell, but he seemed in a good mood.

"I've still got it, as they say," he said, smiling at Korra. "A little bit of Tenzin's patented sweet talk and Lin opens right up—but you don't need to know that."

"You're not mad?" Korra asked.

Tenzin seemed to consider this. "No, I suppose I'm not. I understand your frustration. I was so focused on mastering airbending when I was your age. If my father had told me he had to put off training me for some nebulous business in Republic City, I would have been quite upset." He chuckled. "Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not putting you on the first ship to the South Pole. Ah, Jie Ming."

Tenzin nodded to a short girl in red clothes and a yellow sash. She bowed deeply. Her dark eyes were mostly obscured behind dark bangs. She looked seriously at Korra.

"Avatar Korra, this is Jie Ming," Tenzin said. "When you return to master airbending she will be one of the Air Acolytes assisting you."

"But you can't bend," Korra said, unsure of how Jie Ming would be able to help with anything. None of the Air Acolytes were benders.

Jie Ming bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Avatar Korra. Master Tenzin, there is one merchant ship that can be ready to leave for the South Pole in one hour. Your wife would like to meet the Avatar, and your two youngest children insist upon getting to say hi to Korra."

Tenzin groaned. "Why did you tell them Korra was here?"

"Excuse me, sir, but you are the one who shouted, 'The Avatar's been arrested?' in front of everyone."

"Ah…right."

"Does that mean we're going to Air Temple Island?" Korra said gleefully.

"No, it does not!"

"Excuse me, Master Tenzin, but your wife Pema was insistent that the Avatar be treated with the hospitality that is a core value of the Air Nomads," said Jie Ming. Korra grinned. She liked this tiny, dark girl. Jie Ming had a sense of humor.

Tenzin rubbed at his face. "My wife's sweet talk is so compelling it compels me from miles away. Very well! We will go to Air Temple Island."

* * *

Pong sat alone in a bench in the park, feeling embarrassed about it. At least it wasn't a girl this time. Well, it was a girl this time, insofar as anyone could tell underneath ill-fitting rags and layers of dirt and grime, but at least it wasn't a girl his age.

He glanced surreptitiously over the newspaper held out in front of his face. There! A fluttering rag! Pong carefully adjusted his hat to indicate he had received the signal. The rag whirled around twice. Now what did that mean again? Was he supposed to start walking north, or give a large yawn and wait five minutes for another signal?

Oh, screw it. He was paying the runt a tenth-jiang every day for this, wasn't he? The professor liked the "urban tidbits" Pong brought back, but Pong wasn't going to pay games with a child whom he technically employed. Pong strode towards the white handkerchief, which disappeared behind a tree. Pong rounded the tree, but no one was there.

"Hey, Mister, what're you doing!" a boyish voice hissed at him from above. Pong looked up and a skinny, freckled girl with messy hair glared down at him from a tree branch. "Everyone'll see you conspiring with me, like!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Pong asked. "I do pay you well for this, don't I? I want my news, and I want it now."

"Gimme the tenth-jiang first, Mister. Or I'll scarper, like."

"You better give me the news, or you'll 'scarper' with my money."

"Well played, well played," the girl said with grudging respect. Pong coughed and straightened his shoulders back.

"Well, you are talking to Junior Secretary Pong, so you had best 'spill the beans.'"

"What're you wiggling your fingers about like that for?"

"Just tell me the news!"

The girl inserted a finger into her nose carelessly. "The Avatar got arrested."

"Yes, I know, and she was released."

The girl critically inspected the prize her finger had retrieved and flicked it away. "Sure, you read that in the newspaper, but you don't come to me for things any fool can read." Silently Pong doubted the girl could read at all.

"So what aren't the newspapers saying?"

"The Avatar got in, and the Avatar got out, but what they ain't saying is how. That chief of police is tougher'n steel and stoops like a mountain. She won't let no one from the lowest beggar t' the Fire Lord herself free less they did their time. But nonna her armor's much guard 'gainst the spirits! The Avatar laid a curse on ol' Bang-On, she did, or threatened to, and now her oogie-boogies guard the jail."

"Oogie-boogies?"

"You know, oogie-boogies." The girl wiggled her fingers vaguely. "Slip right through your door and gobble your feet while you're dreaming."

"I don't think 'oogie-boogies' are an official part of the spirit taxonomy," Pong said stiffly.

"It's word on the street," the girl said stubbornly. "I can't come up with this stuff."

"And what does the 'street' have to say about the Avatar?"

The girl smirked. "Says she put her spell first on the Equalists. Her insects, or something, think it was. Now they think she's there's and they do what she says. Like ants and a queen."

"She's got her pheromones on the Equalists," Pong chuckled.

"What's that, mister? You talking oogie-boogies?" The girl grinned nastily. "Don't sound like a tax to me."

"Taxonomy."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Now give me the tenth-jiang, mister," the girl said urgently. "I have got a lot of customers and haven't all day to be seen with you."

"I'm sure a girl like you is very busy," Pong said idly as he fished a coin out of his pocket.

"Girl?" The urchin was taken aback. "What makes you say a thing like that, mister? I ain't a girl, I never even seen a girl!" She looked ready to tear up. "Got a lot of nerve to go around calling people girls!"

"I only meant—"

"Calling people girls!" She sniffled loudly. "Some folks haven't got any consideration."

Pong's mouth fell open, and that's when she snatched his coin. She jumped down the tree and took off in the other direction, casting a last hurt glance back at Pong.

* * *

Tenzin took them to a ferry, which made Korra laugh out loud. She hadn't realized what life must be like for non-waterbenders. She couldn't resist a snide comment or two about the speed of their poor ship as it took them across the water to Air Temple Island. The stairs were more to her liking, clearly made by someone who could earthbend. The walk up was long and the steps were tall, and Korra was pleased to see neither Tenzin nor Jie Ming slowed their pace as they reached the very top.

At the top was a spire that narrowed toward the top. The path jutted out; to the right Korra saw a stone arena of some kind, to the left was a row of blue-topped buildings. But marking the borders of the entire area and sitting happily in every spare place was greenery. Korra wondered at it. She at seaweed, of course, and Arnook had explained to her in an abstract sort of way what a tree was, but Korra had never understood until now. It was so green. Korra didn't know what to say.

"Welcome to Air Temple Island," said Tenzin. "Jie Ming, would you be so good as to tell my wife we've arrived?" Jie Min bowed and left toward the row of buildings.

Korra pointed wordlessly at the plants. Tenzin nodded.

"Yes, the endless frozen white expanses of the South Pole got repetitive, didn't they? Come inside and meet my wife."

Tenzin's wife, Pema, was almost as short as Jie Ming and almost as stern as Chief Beifong.

"Korra came all the way from the South Pole to visit us, and you were going to turn her away like, like, I would say a beggar or a criminal but we don't turn them away."

Tenzin cowered before a woman who barely came up to his chest.

"I just thought Korra would prefer to return home after her harrowing time here."

"And you compound your sin by lying to your life and lying in front of your student."

"Student?" Korra and Tenzin said.

"Do you really think the Avatar came all this way to buy a light bulb and meet Lin?" Pema said to Tenzin.

"I'm very busy," Tenzin said.

"There's a revolution of sorts going on," he added.

"It's not safe, and the Avatar could provoke aggression from the Equalists."

"The who?" said Korra. "Is there something I need to bring balance to? Just point my fists in the right direction and I'll start firebending."

"See what I mean?" said Tenzin.

"Not even a little bit," said Pema. She looked at Korra. Her features softened suddenly, became warm and mothering, and she put a hand on her belly so round Korra thought she must be pregnant with the fattest baby in the world. "Korra, would you like some tea?"

Korra's experience with tea thus far in her life was boiled water with seaweed. She shook her head no. Jie Ming bustled in with a tray of tea and handed a cup to Korra anyway. She sniffed it cautiously and dipped her tongue inside. It was hot, but not altogether unpleasant.

"It's made with ginger," said Pema. Korra nodded. Whatever ginger was, it was better than seaweed.

"So when does airbending training begin?" Korra grinned at Pema.

"I didn't say I would train you," said Tenzin.

"Tomorrow," said Pema.

"Now see here—"

"Master Tenzin, your children are here." Jie Ming bowed low, and three familiar children jumped over her head. Jinora, ten years old and annoyingly studious, bounded across the room and grabbed Korra around the shoulders. Ikki, 7, followed, taking a perch upon her older sister's head. A stream of words poured from her mouth like she was a dragon of soundbending.

"Korraohmystripesandwhiskersareyouheretostayareyouareyouareyouohpleasesaythatyouarepleasepleaseplease—"

Meelo, only five years old, took up the rear. He found Korra's ponytails. He decided that he wanted to know what would happen if he pulled on them. So he did. Repeatedly.

"Get off of me!" Korra knocked Ikki back, where she caught herself with a puff of air, and Jinora was smart enough to see trouble coming and jump out of the way. Meelo, however, had a death grip on her hair and Korra couldn't see how to remove his hand from her ponytail except to remove his hand from his wrist, an increasingly tempting option.

"Is Korra going to stay with us, Daddy?" Jinora asked. Ikki expressed her interest in the question by squealing at a pitch that could have shattered glass.

Tenzin gazed helplessly at Jie Ming, but there was no help there. His wife had already betrayed him, his children defected—he was always outnumbered by the girls.

"You're still with me, right Meelo?" he tried, but Meelo was wiping his snot on Korra's arm. It was how he marked his territory. It was a lost battle.

"Fine," he said. "Korra can stay. But! You are not to go out to the city on your own. It is too dangerous right now."

His vision was suddenly obscured by a flying body. Korra tackled him, Meelo and all, knocking over the tray of tea.

"Tenzin! Yes! Thank you!"

"Yes, yes," Tenzin mumbled until Korra finally released him. He stood, coughing, as Korra finally managed to disentangle Meelo from her hair. She held him away at arm's length like he was a feisty cat penguin.

"So when does training begin?" Korra asked.

"I didn't say I would train you!"

"Dear, if she's staying she might as well learn with the children."

"Korra, did you bring us a present," Jinora asked.

"A smashed light bulb," Korra said. "But I brought Naga. She's outside."

"No bringing polar bear dogs inside," Tenzin and Pema said in perfect synchronicity.

"You can bring her into our room," said Ikki.

"No, she can't."

"Why not? It's our room! Aaaaaaaaah!"

A few hours later, when everyone had settled down and a plan had been formed to supply Naga with ample food and water every day, Tenzin took Korra outside. The sun had fallen below the horizon and the moon had risen in its stead. Korra still marveled at it.

"Who raises the sun and moon here, Tenzin?"

"You, I presume."

"Oh, right. My spirit flies out of my body while I'm not paying attention."

"I understand you are concerned about your spiritual abilities. Airbending is the most spiritual element. But I have not agreed to train you yet. Why did you come to Republic City?"

"To see you, duh."

"I would have come back."

"I didn't want to wait."

"Why?"

Korra shrugged. "Nothing to do when I'm not training."

"A powerful waterbender is always busy at the South Pole. My mother still does the work of ten waterbenders."

Korra thought of Katara. She didn't actually get to see her much, now that she had completed her waterbending training. Somehow bending practice and lessons with Arnook took up all her time. She missed her, though.

Arnook…he had probably spent the last two months in a state of absolute panic. She had left without even a note, Korra realized guiltily, and for all Arnook knew she was dead. That would mean it would take another sixteen years simply to get another Avatar to her level.

"Can we write a letter to Arnook?" Korra said. "I didn't tell him I had left."

Tenzin nodded.

"I couldn't wait to train with you, Tenzin, because you're most like the person I want to be."

"Go on," Tenzin said after a pause.

"I'm the Avatar, and you're the last airbender," Korra said. "We both come from a long lineage, but we're also both one of a kind. But you're a master airbender, and I'm still in training. Everyone respects you. You go where you want, spreading Air Nomad stuff and furthering your line and whatever. I have to argue with some chief of police over a light bulb I was given!"

"You stole that light bulb, Korra."

"He was being very rude. I was going to clean his shop of raya, probably. Anyway, it isn't right, people not respecting the Avatar. Earlier today a man said I was lying about being the Avatar! Well, he learned his mistake in a hurry. And no one cared even though the air is practically jellyfish ray venom—I could've taken those metalbenders if I could've breathed. The point is, it's not right, and that's why I came here."

"I see. And you cannot airbend at all?"

"I don't know why. I could always bend all the other three elements. I thought maybe the air was too cold in the South Pole but you could bend it there so I don't know why I thought that anyway I still thought maybe I could bend it here but I can't—"

"Fine. It's fine. Your training will begin tomorrow. Don't expect it to be easy."

"Tenzin, you're my second-favorite person in the world right now."

"Only second?"

"After Naga, of course." Korra feigned shock. "You don't want to get between a girl and her polar bear dog. Trust me."


	4. A Reference Frame of the Elements

"The necessary quality of airbending is inner freedom."

"Inner freedom?"

Soft, damp grass tickled Korra's feet. The newly rising sun barely warmed her back. On either side of her sat Jinora and Ikki, and farther down by Ikki Meelo yawned and rubbed his face. They each sat with one leg folded on top of the other, hands rested on knees, except for Korra, whose knees were bouncing in a butterfly position. She was, without realizing it, disturbing quite a lot of the earth behind her.

In front of them sat Tenzin, the last airbender. In a past life Korra had taught him airbending, and now he would pass the same knowledge onto her. Korra still hadn't quite figured that one out.

"Yes," Tenzin said. "Korra, five years from now, where do you see yourself?"

Korra started. "Huh?"

"Tell me about yourself. What is your greatest weakness? Why do you want to learn airbending? Can you explain the Air Nomad philosophy? What kind of training are you looking for? What is your greatest achievement, and how would your previous masters describe you?"

Korra chose the first question, back when she thought she had understood. "Um…Avataring? You know, just sort of Avataring around, doing Avatar stuff…."

"I see," Tenzin said soberly, as if she had just said something deeply meaningful.

"I had to come up with something original," Ikki complained. "Anyone can want to be the Avatar. You wouldn't let me stop until I said I wanted to be President!"

"I had to vow to restore the entire Air Nation," Jinora muttered.

"Korra is new," Tenzin explained patiently.

"It was my first day too!"

"Even so."

Meelo, who had silently decided not ten seconds ago that he wanted to be the Avatar, said nothing.

Tenzin spoke. "Do you understand what I mean when I say inner freedom is the necessary quality of airbending?"

"Not really." Korra rolled her shoulders back. The yellow training clothes and orange shawl hung oddly on her; the fabric was unfamiliar and itchy, but it wasn't enough to damp her excitement. "How about we take this one at a time?"

Hearing Tenzin's voice was like listening to a melted river spill over the ice, carrying lazily drifting bugs to the sea. "What are the internal emotions and attitudes of the other three elements? What about yourself do you have to master to bend?"

"Uh, this isn't my thing." Korra looked up at the sky. Day again instead of night, and she didn't have to do a thing. "Let's see. With waterbending it's about flow, the push and pull of energy inside of you. Nothing can sit still inside of you for too long. The water erodes it, right?"

Tenzin's eyebrows shot up, almost touching the blue arrow that adorned his bald head. "How should I know?"

"Oh, right," Korra said. Being in front of Tenzin made it easier to remember what Katara had taught her. "And it's about regularity. If your inner flow gets disturbed, you can't maintain the shape of the water."

"Wow!" Ikki chirped. "Korra, teach me waterbending later."

"Doesn't work like that, Ikki," Korra smiled. "Next is earthbending. It's about being solid, unmovable—but more than that. It's about the decision to plant your feet and face what's coming head on. It's, uh, conviction, and seeing things through to the end." Korra paused, collecting her thoughts. At least that much had made sense to her.

"And firebending?" Tenzin prompted.

Korra took a deep breath. "Firebending comes from passion and gratitude. What you care about, uh, you have to get heated up about it, and then be grateful to the sun for providing you the energy to protect the things you care about."

"I wanna be a firebender!" Meelo said.

"You're an excellent student, Korra," Tenzin said. Korra blushed inadvertently. Arnook had made it clear that she was anything but.

Tenzin nodded at Jinora. "Jinora, if you would tell Korra about the emotional state of an airbender?"

"Of course, Father," Jinora said. Korra smiled at how closely she resembled Tenzin.

"Korra, listen carefully," Jinora said in the curt, sharp tone of a teacher. The smile disappeared from Korra's face. Jinora was intense.

"Airbending is the element of freedom," Jinora said, serene again, "And so internally the airbender must be free as well. Free from inhibition, free from doubt and worry. Airbending begins with acceptance."

Korra nodded. Jinora went on.

"Airbending is the most open element. Airbending relies on intuition and foresight, using spiral motions and redirection to maneuver both the opponent and oneself, and this can only be done by accepting what is happening around you. An airbender does not challenge anything directly. She works with what there is and carries it in the direction it is already going."

"Uh huh." Korra scratched her bottom where it itched.

"Internally, an airbender must be open with herself. She must accept herself." Jinora's eyes closed. Serenity radiated outward from her body. "Externally, she must accept the reality of what surrounds her. Only by first accepting what is real can the airbender effect the greatest possible change."

Tenzin beamed proudly. "Well put, Jinora. Do you understand, Korra?"

Korra rolled the sleeves of her yellow uniform up to the shoulder. "You bet I did. Let's accept some stuff!"

"Yeah, let's accept some stuff!" Meelo growled. The dream of becoming a firebender burned brightly in his heart.

"Then let's begin by meditating," Tenzin said. "Korra, you've meditated before, correct?"

"Uh, yeah," Korra said lamely. "Meditating. It's the stuff alright."

"But not, I take it, entirely successfully," Tenzin said calmly. "Korra, meditating is how an airbender gets in touch with his innermost self. Airbenders prize knowledge the same way waterbenders cherish the community or earthbenders ritual. There is no acceptance without knowledge, and no knowledge without acceptance. Now try to relax and clear your mind. Let yourself be a leaf carried by the breeze."

"I'll be the leaf. Got it." Korra closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows.

Tenzin spoke. "Let your emotions blow and scatter in the wind. Reduce yourself to a point of light. Now imagine that point of light in your forehead."

Korra's eyebrows twitched. "Wait, am I the light or is the light in my head?"

Tenzin's voice continued. "Now let that light travel down your esophagus into your stomach, and let it expand throughout your body. The light takes you away to somewhere different. Where are you?"

"_What_?"

"You're in a forest. The forest is a beach. It is calm and relaxing. You are calm and relaxed. Do you feel calm and relaxed?"

"Quiet and let me concentrate!" Korra snapped.

Tenzin opened one eye.

"Uh, sorry Tenzin," Korra said. This abstract stuff doesn't come as easily to me."

She closed her eyes. "Okay, I'm the leaf."

The sun climbed higher into the sky as they meditated, the grass rustling in the breeze that fluttered their clothes. "Burn," Meelo whispered. "Fear me..."

Trying to sit still just drew Korra's attention to every slightest itch. Her back ached. She was certain Tenzin was watching her. A burning itch grew on her forehead until she had to open her eyes and see if Tenzin was looking at her.

Tenzin's eyes were closed, his breath slow and rhythmic. Korra shut her eyes again, feeling stupid.

She sniffed; she could smell lemongrass and wet soil being carried on a wind blowing from her left. She peeked at Jinora, who was barely breathing at all. A gentle breeze emanated from her, and she smelled of nature.

Korra grimaced and tried to relax her mind.

* * *

_The ice was alive. It was her friend. When she called it, it would play with her, and she always won. She could make fire too, but that wasn't as much fun. It went out too quickly, and besides, Mommy and Daddy got mad when she used it in front of people. Fire made the villagers scared. Korra pointed out that it should make them scared, because fire was hot, and Mommy and Daddy would shush her, which she hated, and would tell her a horrible story about the Angry Man or the bloodsucking Caterpillar that lived in the ice. So Korra didn't fire much._

_"Korra!" her parents called. She was playing with the ice. "Korra!" they called again, and this time she went._

_There was a strange man standing at the door. Behind him were two more men. The strange man was all beard, a thick, scraggly brown thing that looked itchy._

_"Is this the one?" the strange man said to her parents. He didn't speak the way they spoke. He didn't say any of the words right. Korra wondered if he was stupid._

_Mommy nodded, and Daddy put his arm on Korra's shoulder._

_"Show them," he said. There was something strange about his voice, like but not like the time before a hunt. Korra didn't like hearing Daddy like that. It made her worried, which made her want the fire, which meant Caterpillars in her dreams._

_Korra held out her hands, palms flat facing up. She hadn't even took anything anyway. It was Siluk's fault for being too weak to hold onto his boomerang. Didn't even come back when it was throwed anyway, and besides she hadn't even took it._

_"You're not in trouble, Korra," Mommy said. "Show them how you can play with ice and with fire."_

_Korra didn't move. She wasn't supposed to do fire in front of others, and besides, she didn't like the strange man, who was just a big scratchy beard. Dark eyes glittered down at her from above the mountain of brown hair. They looked like they didn't believe her._

_"I can," Korra said. "I can do ice and fire and not anybody else can do that. Most of them can't even do ice. Everyone's too frightened of fire, besides, but I'm not going to do it."_

_"Please," Daddy said._

_That was more frightening that anything, and now Korra wanted the fire just besides, Catterpillars or no. Besides it would scare the strange man and make him go away. So she made fire in her hands and held it up to him._

_"Told you," she said, making a fist. The fire went out._

_"And ice," Daddy said. His voice sounded horrible. Korra wanted him to stop. She moved the ice real quick._

_"See?" she said, looking up at her parents. "You told me too."_

_The strange man knelt before her. Now his eyes looked a way nobody had ever looked at Korra before. She didn't know what it was but something about it was scary, not Caterpillar-scary but fire-scary, good scary._

_"Hello, Korra," the strange man said in his strange voice. "My name is Arnook. You are the Avatar."_

_"Why can't you say any words right?" Korra said. "Are you stupid?"_

* * *

"That didn't work," Tenzin commented airily.

"Nope," Korra muttered. The smell of smoke lingered in the air before Tenzin blew it away.

"You might take a step back. You are the Avatar; of course you can airbend. So—"

"But I could always bend the other elements," Korra said.

Tenzin nodded. "So let us meditate again. Try to recall the state of being a waterbender. The elements have a natural harmony and progression. We will start from the beginning. By the end of the cycle, you will know yourself."

Korra crossed her legs and closed her eyes.

* * *

_Waterbending was like walking sideways. It took some effort to get started, but you could keep it up forever once you found the rhythm. It was also a bit like falling, maybe because the water went its own way._

_"Of all the different bending elements, water is unique because we do not pretend to command it," Katara said. She was no longer Old Lady Katara, Inua-Ilisinek-Moon's Sister, not to Korra. Not that Katara couldn't be pretty scary when Korra grabbed at her hair loopies._

_"Push and Pull," Katara said. "We waterbed like the moon bends the ocean. Energy is a wave. You do not force the water where you will it. You add to it…."_

_Korra spent all day walking sideways, and when it was night for six months and waterbending was easier, she changed the ice. She and Katara spent hours in the desert, destroying and rebuilding the frozen island the village lived on._

_"The ice isn't frozen," Katara said. "It is still moving, full of the same energy as the ocean. But all the little waves have less energy each."_

_"I can give it more," Korra said, turning the ice to water. "I can make it hot, even."_

_"That is your energy, not the water's. That is deep bending, child."_

_Korra didn't mind only when Katara called her child. Katara was an Old Lady, besides, and called everyone child. Also she was married to who Korra had been before she had been Korra, and that was fine too if Katara didn't want to marry a little girl or anything like that. Arnook said Korra wasn't sensitive but she was just fine. Feeling was easy. Knowing what to do about it was the real grinder._

_It got pretty cold out there. They made hot baths to relax in together. The heat was like furs for her muscles._

_"When I jump, I move the whole island," Korra announced, grinning through the steam at Katara._

_"Do you?" Katara said. She didn't smile, but then again there were all these wrinkles around her face that made it seem like Katara was always smiling. Arnook's face was noisy, shouting his worries and rare joy like anybody might listen. Korra told him once that it wasn't her job to be the bridge between his face and everything else. He didn't get the joke but Korra laughed. Katara's face stayed the same, but her energy was always changing, slipping from one regular flow to another like sidestepping in concentric circles around the ice. In the water feeling Katara's mood touched you like how the icy wind met the hot steam. Right now Katara was flowing happy._

_"Bet Arnook can feel it back in the village," Korra decided. "Like riding a polar bear dog."_

_Katara raised an eyebrow. "Have you been riding polar bear dogs, child?"_

_"No!" Korra said too quickly. Katara didn't seem to notice, and Korra exhaled. Stupid, stupid, it was the same sort of thing Arnook got mad about, like when she took a piss in the corner of the Ice Hall when the old guy who wasn't the Fire Lord anymore came to visit. It wasn't her fault, and besides, he didn't notice. Korra had been checking and his back was definitely turned the entire time, even blocking anyone else who might see. Anyway he had looked at her funny, so sad it hurt, not like Arnook's sad at all._

_Katara closed her eyes. "Korra, you think too little and worry too much. I don't know how that's possible, but it is."_

_"Arnook's supposed to teach me how to think," Korra grinned. She was missing a tooth and liked to show off the gap, besides. "If you want to blame anybody blame him."_

_Eventually it got to be that Korra was pretty good at waterbending, so they went out into the desert during the months of day this time._

_"No need to push yourself," Korra said. "I'll pull you up"—she grinned—"But besides, I can call the moon if you'd prefer."_

_Katara picked up what practically seemed like half the island and threw it at her. They were fighting now, all the time. Partly Arnook preferred it, though Katara had screamed at him in front of everyone when they came back from the nights in the desert and he had asked too many questions. Korra had never seen Katara be angry like that before nor anyone tell off Arnook like he wasn't any older than she was. Katara didn't like Arnook telling her how to teach waterbending, but here they were fighting like Arnook said, so Korra wasn't sure what to think._

_Anyway, Korra was better at fighting than Katara. Katara was older than the Moon, it seemed, and no kind of trick worked. She could push and pull the entire island, besides, and no spirit would cross her ilisinek, so she could fight with an army of invisible demons. Least that's what everyone said. Arnook said spirits were to be respected, not commanded. Korra just wanted to see one. Anyway, fact was, Katara fought like there was no water under her feet, even though she talked about the ice being a wave. She couldn't move like Korra could, even if she was stronger. Fact was, Korra didn't think of herself as moving at all. She held still, and moved the island, which Katara was on, so she moved too. Katara didn't understand that._

_Still, Katara was sharper than a bear's claw and had a bag of tricks that could've filled a hundred of Arnook's dumb scrolls. Arnook was always talking. As far as Korra could tell, he was standing still and moving her about. She could tell by how during their lessons she held still in the center of the tent and Arnook paced all around like he was afraid the ice would burn his bum. Anyway, after the days in the desert, Korra came back to the tent and made him sit while she walked all around, talking about caterpillars and other things she couldn't remember so well. Fact was, next day Katara decided she was done teaching her._

_"You're a waterbending master," Katara said._

_"Okay," Korra said. She didn't feel any different than yesterday. "What do I do now?"_

_Arnook had an answer to that, as usual. Korra made him sit while he talked._

* * *

Meditating wasn't working, so Tenzin gave her spinning lessons.

"It's not spinning lessons," he sighed. "This is the ancient fighting style of the Air Nomads." He showed her how to pivot with her feet in such a way as to maintain a spiral motion. "It's the style most adapted to multiple opponents."

"Even though we chew vile paste," Meelo said loudly.

"Even though we eschew violence and take a vow of pacifism," Tenzin said. "Very good, Meelo."

"I don't like it," Korra said. "I'm not turning my back to the enemy."

"Don't think of it as turning your back to the enemy," Jinora said helpfully. Korra contemplated sticking her into the earth up to her neck. "Think of it as turning with your enemy's intention. To the airbender, the most important fact about her enemy is not his physical position or even what he is doing, but what he wants to do and where he will be. This requires understanding. Understanding requires acceptance. Acceptance requires you to let go of earthly—"

"Yeah," Korra said, bending down and peering at Jinora like she was inspecting a catch. "Right up to the neck, I'd say."

"If you spin real fast you can make a big tornado!" Ikki said happily, raising her hands into the air to demonstrate. She made a bwoosh sort of noise with her mouth.

Tenzin touched his temple. For a moment he looked like Arnook, but there was something else there that Korra didn't understand. Tenzin didn't get tired like Arnook did.

"The only element that puts as much emphasis on footwork as airbending is earthbending," Tenzin said. "Try to remember how you became an earthbending master.

* * *

_Arnook wouldn't let her leave the Southern Water Tribe to learn earthbending in the Earth Kingdom. Korra threw a fit, but Arnook pointed out that she couldn't bring her polar bear dog with her to the Earth Kingdom, which made sense. Korra relented, and only later did she realize that Arnook probably was lying, since he had never liked Naga anyway._

_Still, Korra was excited to see the steam that meant a ship was coming with an earthbending master, and more importantly, a load of stone. Korra knew she was supposed to be able to bend stone, and even though she wasn't quite sure what it was, she knew it would be incredible._

_Stone was amazing. It was grey, like the roots of Arnook's hair, and hard, like nothing she had every felt before except maybe bone, and not even that. It felt so good, so real. She held it in her hand for what seemed like forever._

_Earthbending came easy. It was just smashing stuff and stomping on the ground._

_"It is not just smashing stuff and stomping on the ground," her earthbending master sighed. "This is the ancient fighting style of the earthbenders."_

_Korra grinned. She liked smashing stuff._

_She spent three years with Wei Zhang. An earthbending master from the Earth Kingdom, he was unlike anyone she had ever known before. He was light-skinned, and tall, and when he spoke of home his voice was dusty and unafraid. She very much wanted to see the Earth Kingdom, and told him so. She wanted to know what meat and rice tasted like. She wanted to see different colors than blue and white. She wanted to meet a queen._

_Wei laughed. He laughed more than anyone in the Southern Water Tribe ever did. He laughed at anything that seemed to amuse him. Korra couldn't understand._

_As a teacher he spoke little. He demonstrated with his body, and Korra followed. After a while, it became like a dance. It was the right way to learn._

_"A stone stands by itself," he said after one such session. Korra nodded. He was always saying Deep Things. Korra loved the way he talked. He did talk, just not while they were training._

_Training was hard. Korra could bend the stone anyhow she pleased, just not when he was bending it too._

_After these sessions he criticized everything she did. She didn't mind because she wanted to hear him talk after so long. He never said, "Your stance is weak," he said, "The mountain cannot balance on a ball." Korra didn't know what a mountain was, but she planted her feet and imagined she was one anyway. It was better. One day he ran out of things to criticize. That was a problem, because she still couldn't beat him even one time out of ten._

_"You bend too hard," Korra complained. Arnook's hand tensed on her shoulder, squeezing the bone. It hurt. Sometimes it was hard to sound grown-up with Arnook nearby._

_"Do you want me to go easy on you?" Wei smiled._

_"No," Korra said, sticking her bottom lip out. "A mountain doesn't ask the rain to stop wearing away at his slopes." She didn't know what rain was either, except for the pictures in Arnook's scrolls._

_"Inoa-soil, cabbage girl," he joked._

_"Inua!" Korra laughed, forgetting herself._

_Still, it was a problem. Almost three years had passed, and she wasn't an earthbending master. Korra was learning woman-things, moon-things that were strange and confusing, not with the other girls at the usual time, but by herself. The elements and moon-stuff were the only things Arnook let others teach. Even when Korra asked him about it, he refused to answer. It was strange and confusing._

_Wei sat with her on the worn stone they had battled on and with together. It was scorched in places because Korra got frustrated sometimes. At first she had been sad to see the black marks marring the beautiful grey stone, but now she couldn't imagine them any other way._

_"Inoa-mud, broccoli girl," he said._

_"Inua," she answered. "I'm not broccoli."_

_"You are. Too skinny."_

_It wasn't so true anymore. Her body was spreading apart, thickening in ways that threw off her balance and made her relearn her stances. Arnook said at least she would get taller soon too._

_"Rock girl leans on bent-over tree," Wei said. "Rock girl gets bigger, falls over tree, rolls down hill."_

_"I'm not broccoli," she insisted. She wasn't even sure what it was. She asked Arnook about it, and he said it was a vegetable, which were things like seaweed but different. She asked him about Wei and how come she couldn't beat him. He said in a voice like how a mountain sounded in Korra's mind that Korra was the Avatar and stronger than anyone, and all she had to do was believe it. It was her destiny, and one day she would be stronger than an army. No one could be stronger than her, because she was the Avatar. Korra said, Fine, you just never said so, that's all. Well he said she didn't listen and they argued about that but it felt familiar so it was fine. Sometimes Korra saw her mom and dad and they ate together. Now she had a younger brother though, and another younger sibling on the way, and so mom and dad were usually busy._

_Anyway, the next day everything Wei sent at her broke against her skin, and she only hit him once, enough to send him sliding off the stone and onto the ice, which meant he lost. She was an earthbending master._

* * *

Air Nomads ate vegetables, rice, tofu, beans, and bread. Korra frowned at broccoli. It didn't look anything like her.

She wasn't used to eating with so many people except at important ceremonies and festivals. Even then, she sat at the high table with Arnook and the other important people, and people would come up to bow, and Korra just had to agree to gain the blessing of the spirits on the village's behalf and stuff like that. At Tenzin's table she was in the thick of things, the battle for bowls and elbow room. She retreated at first under the combined onslaught of Meelo on one side and Ikki on the other until Meelo nearly upended her bowl of rice while reaching for the leeks, and then it was on. Before the next sunset Meelo and Ikki had learned to be grateful for the space they had, and if they wanted anything they could ask nicely for it, thank you very much. Jinora seemed apprehensive about the whole thing; Tenzin relieved. Korra couldn't read Pema as easily. She kept smiling all the time, even when nothing funny was said.

Jie Ming cooked. Korra made her show how. They boiled things, which was normal, and cut things, which made sense too, but Korra couldn't understand how bread was made at all. She didn't see how money entered into it. Jie Ming told her about other things too, like clothes. In Republic City people didn't wear the same one or two outfits every day. Some people wore a different pair of clothes every day of the week. There were different shoes and hats, not for different purposes, but just because people liked to look different ways. Jie Ming said they all ended up looking the same trying to look different, and she liked how Korra stood out. Korra wasn't sure what that meant except that she liked how she stood out too.

Jinora liked to read. Korra wondered why. The words weren't doing anything, and the stories were all fake. Jinora said it was like going into a different world. Korra wondered if Tenzin would notice if Jinora's small library caught on fire. Jie Ming said he probably would. She seemed distant. It was the closest Korra ever saw to Jie Ming being upset about anything, even when Meelo was being a terror. Korra terrorized him. In fairness, Jinora terrorized her.

Tenzin's breath was the wind, and she was a sail. She wondered what she was trying to get away from.

"We are nearly completed the cycle of elements," he said. Korra looked at the blue arrow on his bald head while he talked. She wondered if he missed having hair, if the top of his head ever got cold. "Tell me about fire," he said.

"Fire is about gratitude," Korra said automatically. "Find out what you're thankful for in this life. That's your heat. Your true passion. Gratitude for life."

"Is that what powers your firebending?" Tenzin said.

"Yes," Korra lied.

* * *

_Wei left. Korra tried not to cry in front of him and did anyway. He laughed at that too and and rubbed his rough thumb across her forehead. She didn't open her eyes until he was gone._

_It took a while for the firebending master to arrive. Korra went on trips into the desert with Naga. They hunted together and slept beneath the stars. Korra remembered all of them. She made up names for them, but she was sure they weren't made up at all. They were the stars' real names._

_"That's Udai," she pointed. Naga wasn't paying attention, as usual. Korra nudged her. "Hey. Fatso. That's Udai." Naga's tongue fell out of her mouth. Korra lifted Naga's lips up and put her tongue back inside. It was hot and dry. "I said, it's Udai. Udai likes cake." She didn't know what cake was, but Udai liked cake. It was true._

_Meanwhile, Arnook continued her lessons. She learned about the history of the Avatars. She learned the history of the Hundred Year War._

_"Seems an easy act to follow," Korra said. She grinned pointlessly. "All I have to do is not disappear for a hundred years."_

_She learned philosophy. She learned religion. She learned about the spirits._

_"Who teaches the spirits about humans?" Korra asked._

_"You are the bridge between the two worlds," Arnook said, as if that was an answer. When he didn't answer questions, Korra would lapse into tunnu-talk, as Arnook had dismissively called it once. It annoyed him, which was worth the shouting, and later, silence._

_The firebending master came. His name was Yasu. Korra called him Yes Sir. It was just about the funniest thing ever, but he never reacted, answering to it like it was his own name, and she soon dropped it._

_Firebending was awesome. Arnook had warned her that it would be the hardest element, but he must have had his head up a whale yak's ass, because that thought was shit in his ears. Fire was the easiest element. There was fire in her all the time, and she just had to let it out, which she was always dying to do. After a week Yasu said he was shocked by her power. Korra kept going._

_Still, she didn't master firebending in a week. The stances were too weird, and Yasu talked too much about control. Korra showed how she could melt the ice six feet deep, and he just lectured her on power and responsibility. He talked a lot in his clipped voice. His eyebrows spoke a second language, doing an interpretive dance of everything he said. His back was always straight. Korra liked to sit like him. He boiled his water until it was steaming and put secret things in it. He shared it with Korra. It was called tea, and it made the water taste weird. But it was a firebending thing so she did it._

_A year passed, then two, then three. Naga didn't like fire. No one did. Korra didn't care except for Naga. It was melancholy. Arnook liked big words. He was melancholy all the time. His beard was white as the frozen desert. On top of his head the hair was beating a retreat._

_Korra's shoulders were far apart. So were her hips. Her thighs grew to fill the space. Muscles rippled along her arms, when it was hot enough to take their coats off. That was one of the most important things, said Yasu, was warming yourself. A firebending master could be naked in the desert. They tried it. It was true. Korra laughed at Arnook's expression when she told him. He didn't understand bending at all. Neither of them wanted to do anything, and if they had, they would have died._

_She was stronger than Yasu. She knew it. He knew it too. But his flames were of a different quality. Hers turned to ash when they met his._

_"Firebending is a battle of passion," Yasu said. "What do you really care about? Why are you glad to be on this earth?"_

_Happiness was Naga, but Arnook wouldn't let that answer stand, so Korra didn't say it. She asked Yasu instead, and he said she didn't understand. She asked Arnook, and he said she was on this earth to be the Avatar, whom no one was above, whom no one could judge, and other things. For a moment she thought to ask him if she would have been born if Aang hadn't died when he did, but the old fear grabbed her esophagus and held it shut until she forced the thought into her shoulders and down her arms into her hands, where they become light and heat and smoke. The Catterpillar was a faded memory, like the color of Father's eyes. She took Arnook's words as an answer._

_"I am glad to be the Avatar to be alive," she told Yasu._

_He thought that was fine. They kept training. It still took another two months for her to overcome him, even though she had her answer. She finally did it by outlasting him, burning and burning and burning and burning desperately until his flames went out, at which point she stopped, being the Avatar._

_He congratulated her, though he seemed troubled, and he left. She waited for Tenzin._

* * *

Korra opened her eyes.

"Do you feel like you have a better understanding of yourself?" Tenzin asked.

Korra thought of Chief Beifong. "Yes."

"Do you want to try airbending?"

"No," Korra said. "I want to go into the city. I have to, because I'm the Avatar."

Tenzin seemed surprised. He surprised her by telling her to talk to Pema before she left, and to bring Jie Ming.

Korra stood, bowed, thanked him, and plotted her revenge.


	5. Origins of Angry Star

Korra felt dried out, the moisture in her brain leeched away. No longer blurred, hard eyes watched Korra from the inside of her mind. She'd soften them up a bit. There wasn't Arnook to ask this time, but she could guess. This was probably the best way to airbending.

Pema asked if Korra wanted some money. She said, no, I'll just ask for food if I'm hungry. Pema said there were other things you could do with money. Korra said, like what. Pema said, like music. Korra said, old men banging on drums is not much fun.

"Bring Jie Ming anyway," Pema said. "Young girls banging on drums is much different. And take this."

Pema handed Korra a thin band of black cloth with two holes cut out.

"To cover your face," Pema said. "If Chief Beifong sees you, she'll have you deported."

"North Pole," Korra said. "Might be worth seeing."

Pema waited.

"Thanks, Pema."

Pema's pleasant smile never wavered. "Of course, Korra. You're welcome."

Jie Ming bowed low. "It would be my honor to accompany the Avatar."

"Obviously." Korra handed the black mask to Jie Ming with some distaste. "Hold onto that, and lose it when you can."

"Of course, Avatar Korra."

"Quit bowing every time I say something. I feel like you're making fun of me."

"The thought never crossed my mind, o Avatar."

Korra eyed Jie Ming suspiciously. The girl hid too much behind those dark bangs. She even made fun of Meelo, which was like spooking minnows. No one else seemed to notice, or if they did, they never said anything. It made Korra feel like she was crazy. She got revenge by kicking Jie Ming over the side of the cliff. She caught her by pushing a ledge of earth out from the side, but the girl had a pair of lungs on her.

"Allow me to express my humblest apologies," Jie Ming said, bowing. "May I request that we take the ferry, Avatar Korra?"

"Just call me Korra."

"Really?"

"…No. Maybe. I don't know. We'll see."

"And what is Av…Ava…."

"Spit it out before your spit freezes."

"What are we doing in the city?"

"Fighting crime."

Beneath her dark bangs, Jie Ming's eyes gleamed. "I don't know if I can approve of that as an Air Acolyte. We are pacifistic in our ways."

"You won't be fighting. Just help me find them. I can follow the metalbenders, but then I'd get there last."

Jie Ming blinked. "You can follow the metalbenders?"

Korra's ears twitched. The formal, subservient tone was gone. She wasn't a dog, but there were some things she picked up on even better than Naga.

"Probably," Korra said. "I haven't tried, but I can basically do anything with bending. Airbending doesn't count."

"Obviously," Jie Ming said quickly. "Obviously."

Jie Ming's normal voice was back again. Korra didn't say anything as they got on the ferry to take them to the city.

* * *

On the busy streets of Republic City, Jie Ming pointed.

"Down there are the bad neighborhoods. Plenty of crime."

"Fine."

Korra tugged uncomfortably at the black cloth around her eyes. It didn't cover half her face. How could anyone fail to recognize her in this?

"It makes you look unforgettable," Jie Ming assured her. "You're…you're Black Mask Girl, hero to children everywhere."

"I'm not a girl, and children can fall in the water and drown. I'm only doing this for Tenzin's sake."

"Yes, Avatar Korra. Do you require further assistance, Avatar Korra?"

"Don't call me that. I'm wearing a mask. Call me…."

Jie Ming waited. "Yes?"

Korra couldn't think of anything. "Just don't be too loud about it. Wait here until dark and come up with excuses when we get back."

"How can I help?"

"Think of something cool for me to say when I jump down from the rooftops."

Jie Ming thought.

"How about…."

* * *

Korra crept along the rooftops. It was dark, in the Republic City sense of the word, which meant that there were lights everywhere, the city goer's stars. But as she ventured deeper into the area Jie Ming had identified, the lights became fewer and fewer….

Waiting for crime was boring. Korra realized she had left Naga waiting. She looked up.

There were no stars.

Her heart skipped a beat. The stars were gone. Obliterated. The sky empty.

"Oh, my stars and thick wooly underwear," she murmured unconsciously.

A noise below distracted her from the horrible loneliness. Someone was walking home. No, stumbling home. He looked bulky, and he started to sing.

_"Oh all the Mollys are goin,' goin' with Bolin…."_

Korra, watched, fascinated, as he wandered into the darkness. She followed from the rooftops, silent as a cat fish. Before long, she noticed that the idiot had attracted a small following. The shadows behind him filled with moving shapes….

One stepped out in front of him. "Hello, friend. Got a light?"

The idiot nearly tripped over his own feet. He finally seemed to be aware of his surroundings. "H-Huh? N-No." He patted his jacket awkwardly. "Nothing here of value."

"That's a shame." The man snapped his fingers; a flame appeared. He lit something at his mouth, and the light stayed even when the flame from his fingers went out. "We'll just check, if you don't mind."

"Mind? M-Me? No, I don't mind, though I'd like to have one tomorrow—"

Korra didn't know what they were talking about. The man was a firebender, so why did he ask for a light? But his stance was threatening, his voice was thick with the familiar delight in power over others.

The idiot, Bolin or whatever, was frightened. This was probably close enough to a crime, Korra decided as more shapes incarnated out of the shadows, surrounding the idiot.

She raised her head to the desolate sky. She would have raised more, but her hands were busy. Specifically, they were busy being on fire.

_"Faster than a speeding Satomobile…."_

She raised two flaming fingers to the sky anyway. And jumped off the roof.

_"More powerful than a polar bear dog…."_

To a non-earthbender, the ground looks solid. To an earthbender, the ground is full of holes and full of air. It's elastic, and bends like rubber….

_"Able to tear down tall buildings in a single bend…."_

The flames were two long streaks of fire in the sky when Korra landed from several stories up. The street sunk in under the force of her downward velocity.

(This was before she knew about the laws of acceleration and gravity, but even then she understood that faster = stronger.)

"Not a metalbender!" she roared.

Her arms came down on either side, and the columns of fire followed. They fell like the flaming towers of a pagan temple on the criminals, who shouted and fell away. The idiot had the presence of mind to roll with the street as it rippled outward like water.

"Not the White Lotus!"

Korra punched a good chunk of the street into one would-be criminal. She sidestepped, planted her feet and punched twice, nailing another one with twin jets of fire.

"Damn it!" one screamed. "It's the Triad!"

"Not a beggar!" Korra swiveled to face the one who had threatened the idiot; she kicked part of a wall into his side. She turned again. They were all on one side of her now, and she unleashed an enormous flame from both hands, scattering them to the sides of the street. In the glow of the fire, she could see the fear in their eyes.

"I'm the Avatar!"

Korra pushed her arms out straight right down the middle of the street. With her feet firmly planted in the ground, she pulled as if she was struggling to open a stubborn cabinet. The earth split open, and Korra, grunting, rolled it out in two sections.

"No way," she heard someone behind her say.

The street turned to seaweed, wrapping up the criminals on either side. They struggled helplessly as Korra pulled herself out of the ground, a satisfied smirk invisible in the darkness.

"Talk about street crime," she said. Something about a pun seemed right.

Light shined from behind her; something hot hit her shoulder like a blow. She stumbled, but her head whipped around. It was the firebender from before, already unleashing another jet of flame. That is, before a rock collided with his jaw. His eyes rolled back into his head even as his fist swung forward. Then the fire disappeared, and he collapsed.

Korra held her breath, savoring the moment. Her muscles sang with effort, sweating covering her like applause. She wanted to fight, to burn—

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh!"

It was the idiot, Bolin, waving his hands in the air and doing a ridiculous dance. Korra set a flame to see him better. He looked panicked.

"Thank you so much!" he said. He was breathing so fast Korra thought he might fall over. "You saved me!"

Korra grinned proudly. "It looked like a job for the Avatar. So here I came to save the day."

His eyes widened. "Wait, you're the Avatar?"

"Duh, I can like bend a billion elements."

"Wowwww! The Avatar! I never thought I'd meet you!"

"Well, I am the best at what I do." Korra glanced at the thugs, who were whimpering in their earthen rolls. "Now to clean up here."

Bolin looked almost sad. "I can't believe they attacked me."

Korra shrugged. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Bolin started toward them. Korra thrust her arm out. He stopped like he had run into an iron bar, letting out a little grunt.

"They're mine, got it?"

"But we should call the police."

"Yes, please, call the police," one of the thugs begged.

"Bite me, fanboy. I am the law."

Korra stretched her finger out toward one of the rolls, enjoying the little whimpers and muffled shrieks. With each motion of her finger, she traced a letter on the rolled-up street, and then she started on the other side….

When she was done she stamped her feet several times. The vibrations echoed out into the night….

She turned to the idiot. "You should get home, citizen. These streets aren't safe."

He nodded several times. "Ooh, yes. Um. Thank you so much! My name is Bolin, by the way."

Korra laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Bucky—

"Bolin—"

"—These are dark times. You can always call on me when you're in trouble. Just look for my signal in the sky, and know that I am coming…."

Bolin glanced up. "Your, uh, signal? What does it look like?"

But when he looked back down, the Avatar was gone.

"Huh," Bolin said. He stood there for a moment, wondering how drunk he was, exactly. Curious, he walked toward the rolls of street. He peered at the letters. The Avatar's handwriting was terrible, but he could just make it out.

_"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight! Let those who would face my might beware my ikkuma—the Avatar's assuma!"_

On the other roll, the message was shorter:

_"Here's my paperwork."_

* * *

Korra whipped the dumb mask off her face and landed two punches on Jie Ming's arm.

"Ow."

"It was awesome!" Korra said. "There were criminals like you said, and I speared them all. Those were some good lines, too. How'd you come up with that stuff?"

"Reading."

Korra snorted. "What're we telling Tenzin then?"

"We went to a poetry reading and stayed all night discussing verse and form."

"You're evil."

Jie Ming smiled. It was too dark to see.

* * *

"You seem energized," Tenzin commented the next day at breakfast.

Korra threw aside another bowl of congee and grabbed a third. "Yup, I'm—" She jabbed Meelo's hand away from the last roll and took it, sneering. "I'm going to airbend real soon, I can feel it."

"I'm glad," Tenzin said. Meelo farted. And farted again. Tenzin sighed.

"He's going to keep doing that until you give him the roll, I'm afraid. I don't know how he does it. It's the only airbending technique I can't master."

"You don't want to master it," Pema said, shooting a glare at her husband. "Korra, keep the roll. We will stamp this out as violently as pacifism allows."

"Sure thing, Pema. Thanks for the mask. It makes me real recognizable."

Pema took a sip of water. "I'm glad."

"You're not going out again tonight, are you?" Tenzin said. "I know you like poetry, but—"

"Avatar Korra wanted to see a play about how Avatar Aang defeated the Fire Lord and brought balance to the world," Jie Ming said from the kitchen. "There's a night show. She was quite insistent."

"Yeah," Korra said around a mouthful of bread. "What she said."

* * *

Korra shuffled into the dining hall, rubbing a bruised rib hidden under her shirt.

"Good morning, Korra," Tenzin said, looking up from the newspaper. "How are you?"

Korra fell on her butt at the table and felt for a bowl. "Whaaa? Oh, hey Tenzin. Morning. Morning, Pema. Hi, guys."

"Korra you seem tired," Ikki said rapidly. "Are you tired because you go out every night?"

"Ikki, my ears are like so not ready for this right now." Korra stared at her spoon as if unsure what it was for.

"Korra are we going to play today I want to play in the water you can waterbend and Naga can chase us it'll be real fun please please please—"

"'K."

"Yay!"

"I find meditating very restful," Jinora said like she thought she was being subtle.

"I find not hearing your voice restful," Korra muttered like she didn't care if she was being subtle. She slapped Meelo's hand away from whatever he was reaching for and yawned. Something twinges in the back of her neck when she leaned her head back.

"You and Jie Ming have gone out every night this week," Pema said. "You girls must be having fun."

"Yeah sure fun fun is great lots of fun," Korra said. She tried to will energy into herself to eat.

"You're not going out tonight, I hope," Tenzin said. He was looking at the newspaper. "Seems like some kind of crazed vigilante is on the loose. He roams the alleys at night beating up crooks, then leaves them for the police."

"There's all types these days," Pema said.

Korra looked up. "Oh, yeah? Does he have a name?"

"No, it seems like he wears a mask, so he hasn't been identified," Tenzin said, turning the page. "Apparently he calls himself the Angry Star. It says he's very popular with the kids."

"I want an Angry Star toy," Meelo announced to the general disinterest of his parents. Then Ikki decided she wanted one too, and Jinora got up to practice airbending, and Korra planned her next attack.

* * *

She knew the streets better now, at least the parts she went down, which, she realized, were the parts most people didn't go down. They weren't bright and full of light. There weren't busy shops open and playing music even though everyone should've been sleeping. There weren't many sounds at all, except for creeping feet.

It had only been a week, but to Korra the backstreets already felt cozy. There was earth everywhere to bend with. Even the ground was made of it. The criminals had already learned to fear her. They were harder to find, and when she appeared, they ran, cursing the Triad, whatever that was. Korra hopped off the roof, catching herself on the ledge with one hand and dropping down. Looked like finding someone tonight meant getting in the thick of things. Maybe someone would try to mug her. She was real close to airbending, she could feel it.

"Get her."

Hands grabbed her wrists. Another slapped over her mouth; she breathed fire. He screamed; the hand fell away, and Korra jumped and stamped both feet on the ground. Columns of earth knocked the two thugs behind her away.

"I'll be damned," said a grizzled voice. "It's the Avatar, right here. Am I not my father's son?"

Korra lit a flame. In the hollow darkness was a tall, thick man with long sideburns that boxed his face in. He wore a red scarf with familiar patterns like dancing dragons in gold, and his eyes reflected gold in the fire's light. Korra kicked the earth at him, gripping him tightly.

"I committed no crime," he said calmly. There was something familiar about his voice too.

Korra hesitated.

"What?"

"I committed no crime."

"Your men attacked me!"

"My men?" He seemed surprised at the very thought. "I don't know those men."

"Never seen him before," one groaned, clutching his ribcage. Another was holding his hand, rocking back and forth on the ground.

"See?" the man said. "Please release me."

The golden eyes were so powerful. Korra almost found herself obeying without realizing.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"A victim of the crime of assault, currently."

"You can have my fish," Korra said, dismissing the rock binding with a stamp of her foot, shattering it. "Who are you?"

"I am…curious. I wanted to learn more about the organization known as 'Angry Star.' Naturally, I was surprised to learn it was one woman, the Avatar."

"Well, it's just me," Korra said. "I'm going now."

He bent his head, thinking. Korra peered at his hair. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but it seemed like there was a silver stripe running down the middle.

"I wanted to thank you, Avatar Korra," he said, surprising her. "I have family in this part of town, and as you can see, the metalbenders do a poor job of policing the place. Criminals are rotten folk."

"I wouldn't know," Korra said. "I just roll them up."

He walked forward. Korra was relaxed. Even though he was big, his eyes were calm and commanding. There was something about his voice, something sweet and powerful, something that made you want to—

He walked past her, looking out at the night sky.

"What pig shit," he said. "What a horrible sky. There's a difference between a city so alight the stars are drowned out, and a city so full of poison no light can reach it." He looked at her. "What do you think?"

Korra placed the voice.

"I think you're the one who said, 'Get her,' when those men attacked me," Korra said, turning sideways. "I think I'm going to kick your ass."

He put his hands up. "Hold on, I don't want to fight! I'd have to be crazy to want to fight the Avatar!"

"You ordered your men to attack me!"

"And you were fine, and they're lying in a heap. So who committed the crime, exactly?"

Korra tried to remember what Arnook had taught of Law. It was all things written down, so she never paid much attention.

"What do you want?"

He seemed to relax. "Hey, I want the same thing you do, an end to crime." Korra kept her fists curled. She didn't care about that. "Look, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is—"

"I'm on both my feet," Korra said.

He paused. "I feel like this meeting could've started better. My name is Zolt. I, ah, I'm a businessman."

"A merchant. Like the ones who come to the South Pole sometimes to trade."

"Yeah, that's it. I have a cousin, actually, who runs a ship out to the South Pole. Selling, uh—"

"Salt. Metal."

"Yeah, that's the stuff. You're a smart girl."

"I'm not a girl."

"Nah, you're the Avatar, and what an Avatar. Look at you. You crushed those guys in two seconds flat."

Korra put out the flame and grinned. "I know."

"Look, ah, let me see. I'm really sorry about having my men jump you. I just wanted to see what would happen."

"It's fine. How did you know where I would be?"

"I didn't. I had men all over this part of town looking for you."

"The Angry Star is real important to you."

"I dislike competition, the Avatar excepted, of course."

"Are you going to tell them they can stop looking now?"

"They can wait." It was a joke. Korra grinned.

"Lucky you I happened to show up here."

"Not luck. Fate."

A distant roar, the whine of engines gunning full throttle toward a sudden end. Vibrations rolled through the ground. Metalbenders on the move. Zolt didn't seem to notice.

(This was before she knew about the wave function.)

"Fate's a small word and a big idea," Korra said. "What would you know about it?"

"Quite a lot," said the man with golden eyes. "I knew it was my destiny to meet the Avatar in Republic City."

"Ha! Half of them think I'm the Angry Star, and when I'm eating them they call me Triad. Triple Triad or something."

"The Triple Threat Triad?" the man said. "That's the name of my business."

"Wow! You're a crime fighter too?"

"Ah—"

"Teaching Chief Bei-jerk a lesson."

There was a smile in his voice. "Exactly."

"You want to work for me?"

"I was going to make the opposite offer, actually, but now…hm, I could really use your help. Please. There's a criminal gang that's giving me a lot of trouble. I keep trying to crush them, but they're too fast, too dangerous."

"I can take 'em," Korra said immediately. "Just tell me how to find them."

"You are too noble, Avatar—"

"Who and where are they?"

"Their leader's name is Mako, and he's the most violent sunnuvabitch I've ever seen. He's tall and wears a red scarf and a long coat, but don't get too close. Take him out as soon as you see him. Trust me, I've learned the hard way."

"Great, now where do I find them?"

He took out a map and showed her. Seconds later, Korra was on the rooftops and moving.


	6. Building Bridges

He must've thought she was stupid, if he thought she believed him. Of course he was a bad guy. Good guys didn't hang out in the darkness and say, "Get her" to a trio of thugs. She didn't punch him because there was something about him that was hard to punch. He was too tall, his voice too deep, his eyes too golden. No, someone like him had to be dealt with some other way. Besides, he hadn't attacked her, just his thugs.

Besides, now he thought they were friends. Korra knew better. If he thought he could control her, she'd do him after she was done with Chief Beifong.

And the fact was, he had been telling the truth about one thing. This Mako guy scared him. He needed to be taken down.

Korra was a nested shadow moving across the rooftops. She was getting closer.

* * *

Bolin was having a terrible day. First, Mako had yelled at him for not keeping his Satocycle oiled. Then, he had been kicked out of the jazz club by drumming along. His rhythm wasn't the problem; his earthbending was. The busted-up street he had been tossed onto was proof of that. And finally, he hadn't been allowed to finish his drink.

He sighed. It never failed. You're the first person to be rescued by a hero—VarricKorp was already producing action figures, somehow, although they had the gender and the look all wrong—and by the end of the week things are back to normal. Your chair—your only chair—breaks underneath your growing posterior…darned F = ma.

He at least wished someone would interview him. "Bolin, what was the Angry Star like?" "Well, she's the Avatar, actually, and she doesn't have superpowers, she can just do things no one else can…."

Even with the stupid mask on, the only thing VarricKorp had gotten right, there was something about the Avatar's eyes. Something about them pulled you in and dismissed you. It was charisma. Social gravity.

Ever since that day, Bolin kept his eyes on the rooftops at night, looking for…for _that_, actually.

There was no mistaking the sight of the mobile shadow streaking silently across the rooftops. Korra.

She was moving too fast. No time to waste. Bolin hefted a piece of the street, aimed it, and punched.

It flew.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" Bolin winced. "Sorry!"

She dropped at least twenty feet, rubbing her head. "What was that for?"

"Sorry! I just wanted to get your attention!"

She peered at him. "Bucky?"

"It's Bolin, actually."

"Oh. Are you in danger?"

"I wasn't."

"Okay, well, nice to see you. I'm going now." She raised her foot to propel herself back onto the rooftop.

"Wait!"

She turned, visibly annoyed. "What?"

"I…who are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm the Avatar, and I'm fighting crime. Which you are keeping me from doing. Any other questions?"

Bolin stepped forward desperately. "Where are you going? I can help you. I know these streets. Who're you trying to find?"

Korra lowered her foot. "I'm looking for a guy named Mako. Ever heard of him?"

Bolin's heart stopped beating. His breath quickened, and he wondered if the Avatar could tell. "M-Mako? Uh, why do you want to find him?"

"So you do know him. Know where he is right now?"

"S-Sort of. Um, wait, he's not a criminal."

"Yes, he is."

_Time to put those acting lessons to use. And Mako said they were a waste of time._

"Look, Mako is my brother," Bolin said. "It's true, he steals. But he does it to feed our family!"

"Your family?"

"Yeah, well, it was just me and him on the streets for so many years, but we met others, we started working together. We stick together. Mako's our leader; we call ourselves the Fire Ferrets, but we're just trying to stay alive." He looked down, deep anguish rolling across his face like only an actor can do. "Yeah, it's hard for a couple of street orphans. But Mako wouldn't hurt a fly."

"You're lying."

He flinched. She knew.

"Okay, look, maybe Mako would hurt a fly, but only if it was threatening one of us—"

"He's dangerous, huh?"

Bolin looked up. Korra was grinning.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"But is he a bad guy or a good guy?"

"Good guy," Bolin said firmly.

"Okay. Let's go meet him. I'll form my own judgment. I'm the Avatar, you know. I'm the last and only judge."

* * *

Korra didn't travel across the rooftops by bending, Bolin learned. She was just that athletic, running to the very edge, leaping, landing, rolling and up seemingly without loss of momentum. Bolin knew from physics that she had to be losing energy with every motion, that her body should be filling with entropy, but it didn't seem like it. She wasn't even breathing hard.

Bolin was. All the laws of physics she wasn't obeying were taking their revenge on him. He landed wrong on one of the jumps, and now his knee twinged with every step. A knife stabbed him in the rib with every breath, and sweat dripped from the tips of his hair into his eyes. Korra didn't even seem to notice.

"Dying," Bolin gasped. "Almost there!"

Korra didn't say anything, didn't even glance at him.

What had been a pitch-black street was suddenly beaming with bright light. A too-familiar noise like ten thousand pages of a book being torn right by your ear picked up at the end of the alley. Bolin's eyes widened. Mako was moving—why? Their wasn't a mission tonight.

"Is that him" Korra snapped.

"Huh? Y-Yeah!"

Korra was leaping off the side of the roof, but she was too slow. The Satocycle whipped past her, followed shortly by two more, the Satocycles screaming past her like furious whale yaks giving birth at a hundred miles an hour.

She kicked off, throwing the street behind her to move forward, but she couldn't keep up. Three more Satocycles passed her and veered off to the left, turning so sharply they almost fell over, or at least it looked that way to Korra. Clenching her jaw, she sped up. Bolin was long gone.

When she turned the corner, the scene that greeted her was like something out of a dream. There was a fire in the middle of the street, a wrecked piece of metal dying in some demonic pit. It blocked the street, forcing the three riders to brake sharply. The flames grew as Korra caught up with the three in the time it took them to dismount.

"Is Mako behind that fire?" she said, racing forward.

"Who're you—"

Korra jumped through the flames and tackled the figure on the other side. They rolled to the ground. Korra expected cursing, surprise, but all she got was a elbow by her temple stretching to a hand gripping her neck. He rolled with the motion and forced her to the side; a foot kicked her in the ribcage and Korra released him.

Two bullets of fire blasted the ground where she had been a second before. She came up kicking, a column of earth rising with her foot, nailing him straight on the chin. He crumpled like a tent with its support removed.

The roar and blinding white lights of more Satocycles interrupted Korra's triumphant glow. She dispelled the flames around the metal carcass. Six of them were coming, jumping off their ships, sending them flying toward the three riders she had passed to get to Mako. The whining metal spears were avoided, but it was a prelude to the real melee.

Or rather, the slaughter. Korra wasn't sure who to hit, but the problem solved itself. Just one of the riders was taking on the half-dozen newcomers, his twin…sticks? landing on arms and legs, colliding with heads and stabbing underneath the chest. Cut-off yelps marked a hit. There were a lot of them.

In less than thirty seconds it was over. The other two riders hadn't even moved.

Korra clapped; she couldn't help it. He was good.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" she said.

"The army," he grunted, putting his sticks away. Something hung down from either side of his mouth like the barbels on a catfish. A mustache? "Who're you?"

"I'm the Avatar. Are you Mako?"

"No, that's—"

Where the crumpled boy she had beaten was a flash of blue light, a crackle like the glowing, flashing lights in the city made at night. His fingers stretched out, pointing at the catfish man.

Korra kicked a rock into his ribcage, and he collapsed, cursing.

"The hell was that?" one of the other riders said.

"That was Avatar stuff," Korra said.

"No, not that. What was _he_ doing?"

"Doesn't matter," the catfish man said brusquely. "You're really the Avatar?"

"Yup." She made a flame, lighting up her face. "My name is Korra."

"I'm Yu Lin." He nodded his head.

"You can bow," Korra smirked.

"Equalists don't bow."

"What's an Equalist?"

"We believe everyone should be equal."

"Oh, okay. And that's Mako?" She pointed at the figure clutching his ribcage and rolling on the ground.

"It is. Do you mind if I…?"

"Huh?" She looked from him to Mako. "Oh, you want to take him away? Why, are you a metalbender?"

"No."

"Okay. In that case, I'll keep him. I'm sort of in a battle with Chief Beifong right now."

A bizarre mixture of shock, relief and wonder flashed over his face. "Really? I see. Thank you, Avatar Korra. The Equalist neighborhoods border these, and Mako and his gang of Fire Ferrets here"—he gestured to the fallen bodies around him—"Have been causing quite a lot of trouble."

"And the Equalists sent you to stamp them out. Where'd you learn that stuff, anyway?"

"The United Forces Army."

"Okay. Teach me sometime."

Again, that odd mixture of expressions. There was something so serious about Yu Lin. Korra wondered if his piss was blue.

"I'm happy to teach you anytime, Avatar Korra. You are welcome in the Equalist neighborhoods. We would be honored by your presence."

He extended his gloved hand. She shook it. The Equalists got on their Satocycles and left. Korra wished she had asked one for a ride as they disappeared into the night. Satocycles were really fast.

Mako was glaring at her from the ground. "You're really the Avatar, huh?"

"Sure am." Korra crouched in front of him, grinning. "And you're Mako, the guy who scares the Triple Threat Triad shipping merchants and Equalist soldiers."

"What're you talking about?" His breath came sharp, probably because of how hard she had hit him in the ribs. She didn't feel too bad about it.

"I met with their leader. The guy with the white stripe in his hair. You've been causing problems for Republic City's resident bad guy."

His eyes widened. "You're working for Zolt?"

Bolin's shrieking voice floated toward them, seemingly outpaced by his panicked footsteps.

"Mako! Are you okay?"

"Bolin!" Mako said. "Get out of here!"

"It's fine, it's fine, Korra's a friend," Bolin said, hoping it was true.

"Hi, I'm the Avatar," Korra said.

"I noticed," Mako said, wincing, and holding his side.

"I saved your dumb life," Korra said as Bolin came over and knelt by Mako, helping him into a sitting position. "What was that guy attacking you for anyway?"

"Yu Lin? He's had it out for us since the beginning. Equalists hate poor benders. They hate sharing with us, and they hate that we're proof that not everything in the world comes down to benders vs nonbenders. Zolt's the same. He doesn't like anyone eking out a living on their own."

Korra thought of the man with golden eyes. No, he didn't seem like the sort who would let each to their own.

"Fine," Korra said, "But you owe me one for saving you."

"Anything for the Avatar."

"Teach me lightningbending."

Korra watched his face carefully. Mako's didn't flicker. A look of genuine surprise, however, fell over Bolin's.

"Lightningbending? But that's impossible. No one can do that, least of all my brother—"

"She saw, Bolin."

"She saw?" He glanced from his brother to her. "She _saw_? You lightningbended in front of people?"

"Didn't have much choice. Yu Lin took everybody out."

"I knew it was possible!" Korra crowed. "Arnook said lightning is a liquid, so I always wondered why I couldn't bend it."

"It's firebending, not waterbending," Mako said.

"Why was Yu Lin after you?" Bolin said. "I told you you were pushing too much…." He trailed off, apparently remembering Korra was there.

Korra pointed a finger at him. "And I've learned something else. You are a terrible liar, Bolin. I wonder what was really happening the day I saved you."

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Mako said. "Bolin, how the hell do you know the Avatar?"

So Bolin recounted the story of their meeting.

"So you're the Angry Star," Mako said. "That's wild. People were blaming us for it."

"It's definitely me," Korra said coldly.

"So why'd you save me, then? I'm a criminal."

"I never saw you attack anyone. Besides, you scare Zolt."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. And now you're going to teach me lightningbending. Things work out that way for the Avatar."

* * *

"How was your latest excursion?" Jie Ming asked, bowing low.

"Pretty good. I made friends with Zolt and the Triple Threat Triad, Yu Lin and the Equalists, and Mako and the Fire Ferrets."

"Sounds like you had fun."

* * *

Korra awoke the next morning stiff, tired, and sore in her side where Mako had kicked her. She checked to see if she could airbend, as she always did, then slid out of bed, pulled on some orange clothes, and stumbled to the kitchen for breakfast.

Tenzin wasn't there. Pema was at the head of the table, looking stressed.

"Where's Tenzin?" Korra asked, taking a seat next to Ikki.

"There was an explosion at the hospital early this morning," Pema said. "Tenzin went to take care of things as a member of the Council."

Korra stood. "He didn't wake me?"

"Korra—"

"Which hospital? Where is it?"

"Korra, there isn't anything you can do. Chief Beifong is handling matters, and things are best left to her and Tenzin."

"Jie Ming, which hospital and how do I find it?"

"Pajau Yan Hospital, Avatar Korra. It'll be the tall one with smoke coming out of it and a huge crowd surrounding it."

Korra whistled to Naga. In seconds she was running toward the cliffside, her polar bear dog in tow.


	7. Explosion at Pajau Yan

It was a lot of pressure being the Avatar's guide and caretaker. Stress weighed on Arnook like a beard made of fat, pulling him down and hunching him over, and he could only slough a layer off in his words to her. So over the years Korra's idea of the duties of the Avatar evolved.

When she was little, five or six, she thought being the Avatar meant dismissing the Sun or bidding goodbye to the Moon. She didn't understand then that most places changed night and day every 24 hours. She didn't understand that not everybody lived in a small village with a few hundred people. Later, when she was older and training with Katara, she thought being the Avatar meant mastering the four elements. When she did that, Balance would happen.

It wasn't until she was eleven years old, learning earthbending, that she finally understood a piece of Arnook's fear. It was the day she learned about Bad People.

Such and such a time, it went, the Avatar being very young, a group of people had tried to kidnap and kill her. If they had done it right there would have been no more Avatars. It was the first thing anyone had wanted her to do as the Avatar.

The plan hadn't worked, of course, but it gave Korra a taste of what was really in store. It turned out there were all kinds of bad things in the world, mad queens in the Earth Kingdom and bad fathers in the North Pole. The pac-i-fi-stic Fire Nation didn't like giving its money to the Un-ited Forces Army. But all the most interesting stuff was in Republic City.

In Republic City, everyone was such a heathen the spirits didn't even care anymore that nobody paid them any respect. There were all kinds of criminals, from people who beat you up for your money to people who kept other people from beating you up for your money, only the people they kept from beating you up looked a lot like the people who did the keeping. There were people who bended for sport, and people who didn't have families, not because of things that happened like a storm or running across a hungry turtle shark, but just because, like they were born out of the ground who ate something bad and barfed a whole bunch of bad souls. There were people who thought bending was bad, and people who had too much money, and scientists—whatever that was—who didn't know when to stop asking questions. And the Council was more animals than people, which sounded fun.

Arnook didn't really mean to talk, not that he didn't talk all the time, but that was Lessons and Guide-stuff. Talking was Arnook's role in the world, his way of balancing things out with all the weight of the extra syllables he used for perfectly fine normal words, like "punc-tu-al" instead of "on time." That was the kind of talking she was supposed to listen to and didn't so much. The other kind of talking was things said only because she wouldn't understand, and she didn't understand. She did hear, though, and she understood later.

People must've thought she was stupid, because they talked in front of her all the time. It's like they were kids, thinking she'd disappear if they weren't looking at her. The world became like a puzzle to her, pieces falling out of a box the adults were holding out of her reach but shaking carelessly.

She wasn't stupid. She figured out all kinds of things, like the Earth Kingdom didn't want to be part of the United Republic of Nations. No one said that, but after they finished talking, it was what had been said. She learned that Republic City, which was supposed to be a place where the four nations came together as one, was splitting into a hundred different groups that no one had known existed before. It was because of the light. There was something wrong with it. It didn't work the way it was supposed to.

Lots of people causing trouble in the world, pulling things out of balance. That meant work for her. It meant stress for Arnook. It weighed him down, the fat-beard so heavy it forced his forehead over and his neck to bend, so he walked hunched over, studying the ice so intense he might've been trying to bend it.

Being the Avatar meant lightening the things that weighed Arnook down. So when someone or something attacked the Pajau Yan hospital in Republic City, killing three dozen people, Korra decided to fix things.

"I'm the Avatar," Korra announced from Naga's back. This moved the wall of metalbenders about as much as she expected, so she set Naga to walking over them.

"Oh, for crying out loud, let her through!"

Tenzin, and just in time. Some of them were readying their cables. Korra was itching for a rematch, but that what was the hospital was for.

"Korra!" Tenzin said as she dismounted. "What are you doing here?"

Korra looked up. The hospital, or whatever it was, the tall building surrounded by the biggest, loudest crowd of people Korra had ever seen, was gouged like the crescent moon must've been at her birth. It looked like a picture Arnook had shown her of the crater a falling meteor had left when it crashed down somewhere in the Fire Nation. Metalbender cables surrounded the whole thing. Korra wondered why they didn't just raise the street to keep people out.

"Bringing balance," Korra said. "What's a hospital?"

"Arrest the Avatar," a voice said.

"By some remarkable coincidence, Lin, I have her paperwork right here," Tenzin said, fishing something boring-looking out of his robes.

Beifong arched one of her dreaded eyebrows. "You carry it around with you?"

"I consider it prudent, considering Korra's…personality."

Korra glared at the cold green eyes of the chief of police. "What's going on, and why wasn't I alerted?"

"None of your business. Get out of the investigation area, or I'll have you arrested."

"She's with me, Lin," Tenzin said. "She can help. This is the perfect time for the city to meet its Avatar."

"Yeah, what he said." Korra stuck her tongue out.

"The Avatar? You don't mean…_the_ Avatar?"

A brown man in a blue vest, with three stupid ponytails like they didn't actually wear anymore in the Northern Water Tribe, pushed Tenzin and Beifong aside and bowed deeply, sweeping his hand to the side like he was presenting his wife. "I am Tarrlok, Northern Water Tribe Representative to the Republic City Council of the United Republic of Nations."

"I'm the Avatar. My name is Korra."

"It's an honor, the deepest honor to meet you, Avatar Korra. We have waited sixteen long and painful years for our Avatar to appear once more."

"Yeah, I know."

"But we must talk! Ah, I see, you are here to train with Tenzin. Wonderful, just wonderful, we must have our fully realized Avatar, and so strong—what a _fine_ polar bear dog—"

"Her name is Naga," Korra said proudly. "She eats so much."

"How I long for one of my own—"

"Enough, Tarrlok," Tenzin said, walking over and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Korra is here to learn airbending, not to become a political stunt."

Tarrlok smiled thinly. "Isn't that what you were just suggesting?"

Tenzin colored. "_I_ was suggesting that Korra—in her capacity as a spiritual leader—might guide Republic City through these troubles."

"Mm-hmm." Tarrlok flicked his ponytails with his fingers. Korra stifled a yelp. It was the rudest thing she had ever seen. Tenzin and Beifong didn't seem to notice.

A voice like the edge of a knife cut through the confused rabble of the crowd. "Tarrlok, you oily toad, Avatars don't go for that sort of thing. You have to talk in terms of balance, fate, and destiny."

The woman wore light green, but her fingernails were painted bright red, and she brushed her robes off as she exited the hospital. She inspected her nails, then approached, brushing past Beifong and running a nail down Tarrlok's cheek, smiling mirthlessly. "You're still young. Don't get caught up in these things."

"Oma, you smell of death," Tarrlok said pleasantly. "Maybe you need a stay in the hospital."

"And where's Shiro, dear Tarrlok?"

"Sick, I'm afraid."

"His health is getting worse." She sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have to replace him soon."

"Who's Shiro?" Korra said. Tenzin's fingers tightened on her shoulder, too much like Arnook for her to pay any mind.

"The Representative of the Southern Water Tribe," Tarrlok said, quick to be helpful. "He speaks for your tribe at the most important assembly of man." Behind him, Beifong coughed something that sounded a lot like a bad word.

"He's a tit," Oma said, looking at her fingernails. Korra wondered what was so interesting about them. Maybe she was trying to remember how many throats she had cut with them.

Korra started. _Where did that thought come from?_

But it was true. Oma was a murderer, no doubt about it. She smelled like one. And she was too old for hair so black and skin so smooth. Like a witch. But not like Katara at all, more like if someone tried to eat Katara's ilisinek and ended up better, like that frog that ate only poison and lived forever.

Oma was smiling that humorless smile at her like she knew exactly what Korra was thinking. Her big finger cut from side to side, level with Korra's neck, and then disappeared beneath her robes.

Korra made a note to punch Oma real hard in the face first chance she got.

"Oma is the Representative of the Fire Nation," Tenzin sighed. "And completing the group would be Qopuk, who was here earlier and left for the library, where he intends to deduce the wisest response from the Council."

"Nice to meet you all," Korra said. "I'm the Avatar. What's a hospital?"

"A healing place," Tarrlok said.

"A meteor hit it." Seriously, didn't he notice?

Tarrlok recovered quickly from his surprise. "Yes, well, it's _normally_ a healing place."

"A meteor?" Beifong snapped. "What do you know?"

"About what?"

"About the hole in the building, you stu—" Beifong's voice cut off in a growl, like she was keeping herself at bay. Korra took in her face. She was real stressed, not sleeping at all. She looked like how Korra felt, but the quality was different, like what Korra was born with Beifong chose.

_Nouveau riche_. It was one of Jie Ming's phrases. Jie Ming knew Korra pieced things together. It was why they got along. Beifong was nouveau riche, muscling in on Korra's territory. It wasn't a fight Korra planned to lose.

"It was like that when I got here," Korra said, enjoying the tremble of Beifong's eyebrows and the way Tarrlok probably thought he was being subtle about inspecting her.

Oma, however, was bored. "I'm leaving, Chief Beifong. You may have your crime scene back." Korra could see a fuse blow behind Beifong's furious eyes. "Tarrlok, Tenzin." She nodded at them. "And Avatar…what was your name? No matter. We will meet again."

She left.

"She could scare the shell off a turtle," Tarrlok said. "Well, Avatar Korra, how else may I assist you this terrible morning?"

Korra pointed at the wound in the hospital. "Who did this, and what are you going to do about it?"

Tarrlok's face was heavy, but Korra knew the real thing, and Tarrlok's acting wasn't half a patch on Arnook's gravity. "Equalists bombed the hospital. They have made their aggression and intolerance for law and order clear—"

"Bomb?"

"Firebending for nonbenders. It explodes and hurts people. They used a big one, and it—"

"Wasn't the Equalists."

He wavered. "Your Avatar intuition, I'm sure. Well—"

"No, I mean, I met the Equalists last night. They were busy and couldn't have done this."

Tarrlok tried to smile. "What you might not realize, coming from a small village, is that there are more Equalists on any street than you met in your entire life before coming here. Some Equalists could have been busy, while others—"

"No. You do something like this with someone like Yu Lin, and there's only one Yu Lin."

Tarrlok looked at Tenzin. "Who's Yu Lin?"

"Wasn't Zolt either," Korra said as Tenzin shrugged at Tarrlok, and then looked sharply at her. "I met him last night too."

"Korra, what have you been—"

"Avataring," Korra said before Tenzin could finish. "Probably was fate I met all these people before everyone could decide who dropped a meteor on the hospital. I'm going to have to beat up Zolt later, probably. Did you know lightningbending is real? It's a liquid, so I can do it."

Tenzin and Beifong exchanged horrified looks, and then he was dragging her away from Tarrlok. Naga snarled.

"Down, Naga!" Korra snapped. Naga's knees folded as if Korra's voice was a dog bender.

"She wasn't going to hurt you," Korra said proudly. "She just likes to put people's heads in her mouth sometimes."

"Korra, you must stop going out at once." Tenzin leaned forward so his eyes were level with hers, and he looked almost as serious as Arnook did on a good day. "What have you been doing in the city at night?"

Korra screwed up her face, trying to remembered. "Uh…seeing a play about the history of poetry?"

"Korra, I know, I know all about your ridiculous crime fighting, I know about the Angry Star—"

"Ridiculous?" Then Korra's brain caught up with her ears. "Wait, you _know_?"

"I'm not stupid, Korra!"

"And Pema…." Korra's eyes found Beifong's. Beifong, who would have seen her message and known what it meant. Beifong, who…who covered it up, changed the message to read "Angry Star."

"_You_ named my character?"

"You are to report all your future associations with 'Lightning Bolt' Zolt to me—"

"No, that's Mako—"

"Who's Mako?" Tenzin cut in.

"He begs for stuff but without asking first. I wonder if he knows Nuodon."

"Who's _that_?"

"He's a beggar. We're friends. I'm going to meet the Queen."

"Enough!" Beifong shouted. "I have an investigation to do and a report to make. You three—and your illegal monster—"

"Puppy—"

"I have the paperwork—"

"Will leave! Now!"

So they did. Korra wanted to leave anyway. Tarrlok wanted to talk to her, but Tenzin shooed him away. Korra didn't mind. Tarrlok was a liar.

"You're not to punish Jie Ming," Korra said.

"Oh, I will have words with Jie Ming," Tenzin glowered.

"You're not. I'm helping people."

To her surprise, he sat down heavily—Korra kicked up a seat for him before he fell on his butt. He put his hand over his eyes.

"Korra, people died today. Thirty or forty people, and the number might only grow. People will blame the Equalists, egged on by idiots like Tarrlok. There will be riots. There will be pressure on Lin to 'do something,' which always means locking lots of people in prison under thin pretexts. Lin won't do it, and there will be calls to replace her. There will be calls for laws to be passed—stupid, bad laws, the sort that egotists like Tarrlok thrive on. I will be lucky to get four uninterrupted hours of sleep even one night this week. The stress will carry over to Pema and the children, who are lucky, so lucky to be removed from all this. The city is splintering Korra, and this might be the blow it needs to crack. You must master airbending, and you must master it soon, Korra. The city—the _world_ needs the Avatar to return. You must not put yourself in danger or allow yourself to be distracted from this mission."

"Sleep until the sun comes up," Korra said, which didn't translate as well in a city where the sun came up every day. "I'm the Avatar, like you said, and I'm going to take care of things. I know the city, and I know some people who will help me. No one is going to hurt anyone as long as I'm here."

Funnily enough, that didn't seem to make him feel better. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get some soldiers and some vagrants, and we're going to patrol the city."

"The city is big, Korra."

"Yeah, I've realized that. That's why we're going to use those two-wheeled ships."

"They're called Satocycles."

"Yeah, them."

He sighed, looking off into the distance. "Korra?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever, and I mean _ever_ let any of my children on a Satocycle, no matter how much they whine or beg…."

"Got it, Tenzin. Tenzin?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you didn't just tell me not to?"

"Because you wouldn't have listened, and now I know exactly what you're planning. That is airbending, Korra, as I have been trying to tell you."

And this time, Korra listened.


	8. Opposed Spirits

It was dark. Jie Ming wanted to go home.

"Your family will be fine," Pema assured her. "Chief Beifong and the metalbenders are out in force tonight to maintain peace."

So Jie Ming washed the dishes, tended the garden, and returned Meelo to bed with a glass of water. She drank a cup of tea with Pema, who waited for Tenzin. Then Jie Ming walked down the long steps to the ferry that took her across the black water to Republic City.

She was very tired. When she felt Kenji's hand on her shoulder, she almost broke it.

"It's me, it's me!"

Jie Ming let go of his wrist. "You shouldn't be here."

"It's late, it's dark—"

"Not dark enough." She started walking.

He caught up with her. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?" she snapped.

"Big rally tonight. In Sato's old storage facility."

"How the revolution does progress," Jie Ming said dryly.

"Appropriate appropriation," Kenji said innocently. "Haven't you read my little book?"

Jie Ming thought of Korra, who didn't read, and said nothing.

"You're in a sour mood," Kenji commented, almost skipping to keep up with her.

"The hospital was attacked!"

"So? It was only benders and old families who could afford to stay there."

"You don't have a family. You don't understand."

"Don't give me that. You didn't see the Equalist soldiers lined up earlier. Yu Lin's trained them all."

"Good for him. I hope he has a lot of fun fighting metalbenders tonight."

"Beifong says they won't."

"Beifong arrested the Avatar."

"Yeah, well, she's a bit like an iron wall, isn't she? Can't imagine metalbenders straying over the line."

"Good for you." Jie Ming sped up.

"So are you coming to the rally with me?" he said, jogging now.

"No, I have to go see my brothers."

"They're taken care of. Snoring by now, I should think."

She glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I traded some tokens, moved some things around." He grinned. "It's good to be the writer."

"You didn't."

"Everything's clean, everything's quiet. You have nothing to do but come to the rally."

"With you."

"I am also going, yes."

"And what is this rally all about?"

"Don't know. Heard about it an hour ago. Came here to wait for you."

So they went, skirting the main streets. Artisanal streets stopped at the park, which had a bridge. On the other side of the bridge were shops. Shops led to houses. Houses, to slums. On the other side, the Equalist neighborhoods, humble, clean, and bristling with black-clad soldiers. Kenji saluted at one, a grin on his face. Jie Ming ignored them.

The Equalists neighborhoods pushed into what had been the old quarters of the poor nonbenders from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, people who had come to Republic with nothing but the will to work hard, and maybe an idea or two. Hiroshi Sato had left here a long time ago. Now the businesses were run more…equally.

They reached the large square building where Sato had once stored his vehicles. A burly man stood by the door. Kenji nodded at him, and he opened the door. They went through.

It was loud. There were more people than Jie Ming could have imagined. It was almost like what the pro bending matches sounded like on the radio sometimes. She didn't listen to them, but the White Lotus sentries did sometimes when Tenzin wasn't around.

"Let's get up close," Kenji shouted into her ear. "We'll never see otherwise."

Jie Ming pushed through the crowd, leading them down the stairs and through the mass of people. She wondered what they were all talking at the same time for. If none of them could hear, why not be silent?

The room was dark. White lights flashed up on the stage. The noise from the crowd diminished, then went silent as a tall figure stepped out. He moved with gentle confidence, as if his muscles might tear apart the black fabric he was clad from head to toe in, showing only his face. His mustache hung down like the barbels of a catfish.

"I am Yu Lin," he said. Mutterings swept the room, but he held up his hands quickly, and they stopped.

_Not one for theatrics,_ Jie Ming noted.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight," he continued. "The rally was organized on very short notice because we had very little time between the beginning of this event and the end of it, which you all will observe shortly. Of course I mean the attack at Pajau Yan. Of course the city has blamed us."

The crowd didn't start talking like Jie Ming expected. Yu Lin's presence was absolute.

"Equalists played no role in the explosion at Pajau Yan. We have captured the real perpetrators."

That did get a reaction. Murmurs bubbled out of the crowd, once again silenced by Yu Lin's hands.

"Bring them out," Yu Lin said, gesturing at someone behind the stage.

Equalists in the same black as Yu Lin came out, dragging bound men behind them. They pushed them to the front of the stage, to the side of Yu Lin. Of all the bound men, one was older, with white streaks in his hair, and his eyes were the color of gold.

"This is 'Lightning Bolt' Zolt and his lieutenants, leaders of the Triple Threat Triad!" Yu Lin called over the noise of the crowd. "He is the one guilty."

Zolt's protests were drowned out by the crowd. Camera flashes went off in painful bursts of light. Yu Lin raised his hands, and even then they were not totally silent.

"Let me explain," he said. "Earlier today, before the metalbenders even reached the site of the attack, we were enlightened as to the reality of what had occurred."

"Enlightened?" Jie Ming whispered to Kenji, who shook his head, eyes rapt on Yu Lin.

"The story of the attack at Pajau Yan is a simple one," Yu Lin said. "An enemy of Zolt's was recuperating at the hospital. Zolt did not want to wait for his enemy to recover. He wanted to strike. But if he had his enemy assassinated, he would be the obvious culprit. So he struck at the hospital itself, knowing the Equalists would be blamed. And so we see that the city can be manipulated by its own prejudices to injure itself."

Yu Lin let that sink in before he continued. "How did Zolt create the explosion in the hospital? Not with bombs. With lightningbending."

It came out so suddenly the shock was delayed. Then the whispers started. Yu Lin let them go on for once while Zolt protested. But Jie Ming could see in his eyes that he was relieved.

"Now," Yu Lin said, and there was silence. "Our…enlightener wishes to speak."

"This is a load of bull," Zolt said loudly as Yu Lin stepped to the side. He scanned the audience, looking for something—his eyes met Jie Ming's, and moved on.

Now someone new was coming from behind the stage. He—or she—was tall, and covered from head to toe in a silver cloak, obscuring even the hands. The face was covered by a mask the color of bone, except for a red circle at the center of the forehead. Yu Lin stepped aside as they approached, bowing like a bender. Gasps cut off as the figure began to speak

"I am the Hantu Raya," it said. They said. It sounded like multiple voices, or maybe one voice that was male, female, and more. "Some of you may remember me…if any of you are more than seven hundred years old."

Hantu Raya paused, almost as if they were waiting for someone to raise their hand. No, it was more a pause like a comedian waiting for laughter. Like it had told a joke.

"Raya aren't so scary," they said. "The _ancak_ will be enough. Leave it outside your doors."

The mask turned to Zolt. "As for this…_bender_, this man, he will pay for his crimes. First, we will prove that he is a lightningbender. Then I shall remove his bending. Raya do not kill, we take."

At this point the crowd was too confused to react. Everyone leaned forward, waiting to see what would happen.

"This is a joke," Zolt blustered. Jie Ming was impressed by the way he kept himself even as a prisoner in enemy territory. "There's two kids standing on each other's shoulders in that costume."

"Remove his binds," Hantu Raya said, and Yu Lin obeyed, pulling Zolt up and pushing him forward.

"Bend, murderer," Hantu Raya said.

"This some kinda joke?" Zolt said. He turned to Yu Lin. "I'm not gonna try to fight my way out've a room full of Equalists. As for bending, I'm a firebender, not a wizard. I can't bend lightning any more than you can."

Yu Lin didn't answer.

"Bend," Hantu Raya said mildly.

Then the cold happened. Jie Ming couldn't explain it, even later, talking to Kenji. But the room full of hot tempers and a thousand bodies suddenly became…cold. It was thick cold, like gaseous ice, and it seemed to concentrate around Hantu Raya. It was…not fear. Jie Ming couldn't place the feeling. It sucked at her heart, pulled her forward, and when Hantu Raya repeated its command to bend, she almost tried to airbend.

Zolt, the man with the golden eyes, who commanded the underground of Republic City, snapped back, his hands coming around. They crackled blue.

"Cameras," Hantu Raya said.

Zolt thrust two fingers forward. A lance of blue emanated from his fingers—a camera went off—the cold seemed to gather, then threw itself at Zolt. The lightning bolt—for it was unmistakably so—vanished. Zolt collapsed, writhing, as blue lines crawled over him like electric bugs.

Yu Lin pulled him up. Hantu Raya reached forward, allowing the cloak of their arm to fall over Zolt's face. After a moment it withdrew, and Yu Lin allowed Zolt to fall to the floor.

"He is no longer a bender," Hantu Raya said dismissively. No one needed to ask him to prove it. The cold faded from the room, and more cameras went off.

"Moving on," Hantu Raya said. "Let us talk of the other being in Republic City with the power to remove bending. The Avatar. I understand she was afraid to touch Zolt. I have no such qualms. She imagines she is out defending the city, fighting criminals with her absurd mask. Tonight I have cut off the head of Republic City's most dangerous criminal organization. She intends to bring balance by mastering the four elements. I will bring balance by bringing an end to bending forever."

Yu Lin and the other soldiers on the stage began to clap, and the crowd followed suit. They roared, cheered, stomped their feet. The Hantu Raya watched it all impassively.

"Can you believe it?" Kenji said to Jie Ming. "A spirit who can take away bending! It's fate!"

When the applause died down, Hantu Raya spoke. "To clarify matters, the Avatar is now considered an aberration, no longer part of the plan of the great spirits to maintain balance. Thus they freed me from my prison in the Spirit World and sent me here, giving me the power to remove bending. The Avatar as well must submit to this or be taken to the Spirit World to be destroyed. That is all. Remember the _ancak_ offering. Balance and equality are coming."

They removed the bending of Zolt's lieutenants and left.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing," Kenji said as Yu Lin began to talk about protecting the neighborhoods over the coming days. "The spirits are on our side. Can you believe it?"

Jie Ming didn't answer.

* * *

Korra did her best to drag a thousand pounds of exhausted polar bear dog up the steps to the air temple next morning. She was covered in bruises and cuts, and nearly fell asleep on the steps several times. She leaned into Naga's fat. One moment to rest couldn't hurt.

Jie Ming awoke her. "Avatar Korra"—she bowed—"Please let me help you up the stairs. There is food, and your bed is made. Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Korra tried to focus on Jie Ming, who looked blurrier than usual. "I'm good. I'm up the stairs."

"You're not," said Jie Ming, taking her hand. "Still a few more to go."

"No time for bed," Korra said, struggling to resist Jie Ming's gentle pull. "Gotta—gotta meet some people. Gotta talk."

"You can after you eat and sleep. Pema was very insistent that you get to bed."

"I'm fine."

"You were out the entire night fighting crime!" There was a note of desperation in Jie Ming's plea. "Korra—Avatar Korra, you must listen to me. Please, let me get you food and help you to bed.

"Had help," Korra mumbled. It was true. She remembered the Fire Ferrets, who used their bikes to scout the city and communicate messages. Only Mako and Bolin could bend, but they were good fighters, somehow. They had been eager to help. Too eager. Korra tried to concentrate, but she couldn't hold onto the thought. It faded with her ability to stand. She fell against Naga, who had gone to sleep. Jie Ming was frightened. Where were the White Lotus sentries? Korra couldn't remember if they were normally there or not. The kids? Pema? Tenzin?

Jie Ming shook her. "Avatar Korra!"

"Equalists," Korra managed.

"W-What?"

"Need to see Yu Lin. Gotta…gotta talk to Yu Lin. Where's he live?"

"Who? I-I don't know him. Equalists and Air Acolytes don't mingle. Why don't you come with me to drink some hot tea and go to bed?"

Korra mostly managed to stand up. She glared at Jie Ming with all the force she could muster.

"Tell me how to find the Equalist neighborhoods. Tell me how to find the soldier."

"I should go with you."

"No. Just…just give me some tea before I go. The sort that keeps you awake."

"Avatar Korra, you can't—"

"I'm the Avatar," Korra said, slurring the words, "And you will do as I say." She lost sight of Jie Ming. Oh, she was bowing.

"As you say, Avatar Korra."

Jie Ming went to get the tea.


	9. Some Misunderstandings

Korra dreamt of last night. The city had been alive, alight, like nothing she had seen before in the South Pole. Lots of people were angry at lots of other people for reasons she didn't understand so well. It didn't seem to have much to do with the explosion at the hospital.

The city was too big, so she started upturning things until she found Bolin and Mako.

"You work for me now," she suggested. "And I don't have Naga here rip your face off."

The brothers had agreed to those terms. Bolin made a map of the city on the ground, and Mako showed her where the important streets were, the parts that marked borders that had to be defended, and the lanes that their Satocycles could use to cover the city, the points at which they could meet up to exchange messages. With that decided, the brothers set off on their noisy bikes while Korra and Naga returned to the hospital, where a memorial service was tipping into a protest, where a crowd was arguing itself into becoming a mob. She gave a speech, and might've moved the street around a bit until they went away. It was hard to remember what had actually happened and what was dream stuff.

Then it had really started. Korra donned her stupid mask. There were people who needed to be turned away from the shops. Apparently it was hard to tell the difference between Equalists and non-benders. Mostly the metalbenders were there, though, and they tried to chase her away. Metal cables stung. It made her mad.

Then there were the Equalist neighborhoods themselves. There were people in black on the rooftops and on Satocycles on the ground. The roving mobs weren't willing to cross them, not at first. They made fires, though, and there wasn't much the Equalists could do about that. There were too few of them to flank the mobs, and when they could, they were too violent. So Korra put out the fires and rolled the mobs away. At first the Equalists let her, helped her. But as the night went on and became morning, they started chasing her away. She couldn't earthbend on the rooftops, and firebending killed her night vision, turning the black figures into purple splotches, so she couldn't stay for long once they decided they wanted her to leave. It was the violation of a promise. It made her really mad.

So eventually she found herself with Mako and Bolin. They had identified some bad guys, and Korra was too exhausted in her head and too charged in her arms to care much by that point, so they chased some people out of somewhere or another, using firebending for the chaos of it. Mako was real happy about it. Such a good guy. Well, there was no doubting the people they fought together were tough as nails. They fought in mixed-bending trios, but as the morning went on they became disorganized. Mako was too smart for them, besides, and always knew what they were going to do.

So it was light, finally, and most of the fires were put out, and Korra went back to Air Temple Island to get some sleep.

"Avatar Korra!"

Korra opened her eyes. Someone. Jie Ming, with a tray. It was tea. She took the hot mug and sniffed it.

"It's ginseng," Jie Ming said.

Korra looked at the tea. She looked at Jie Ming's blurry face.

"Thanks, Jie Ming. I'll drink it on the way. Where does Yu Lin live?"

"I don't know him."

"The Equalists are being weird. How do I find a soldier?"

Jie Ming suggested some streets and some ways of being polite in the Republic City sense of the word. Naga was sleeping and wouldn't budge, so Korra set off on her own. At the bay she dumped out the tea, made a platform of ice, and pushed herself across to the city.

* * *

Jie Ming had time to think as she went to get the tea. When she returned with a hot mug on a tray, Avatar Korra was dozing against Naga. Jie Ming went back, sent a message via the telegram, and came back again with the tray.

"Avatar Korra." She shook her. "Avatar Korra."

It took the Avatar a few moments to find her bearings. When she focused on Jie Ming, the bags under her eyes seemed to grow even heavier. Somehow she seemed to know the tea would put her to sleep. Oh well. Korra left, and Jie Ming went to send another telegram.

4YLIN  
WMVNH  
MH-IS  
TG-C

_For Yu Lin_  
_The Avatar is moving to the neighborhoods._  
_Her monster is here on the island._  
_Tenzin is not on the island but with the Council._

She smiled and nodded at the sentry, and went to prepare snacks for the children.

* * *

The telegram was brought to Yucheng. He did his best to interpret it, and reached certain conclusions. He composed a message to Yu Lin. Then he sent for Mui and her well-rested soldiers.

Korra couldn't remember her legs ever hurting so much. Even when she had piled rocks on her back and shoulders, her legs hadn't hurt this much. Burns didn't hurt like this did either. It sort of felt like being dehydrated did, but the ache was much deeper.

The city didn't look half as nightmarish as it had last night. Korra thought the city would be on fire, broken glass everywhere, that she would need to hide from the metalbenders, but the city looked normal. Maybe fewer people out than usual. It was hard to care.

There were metalbenders. Watching her. Following along with the cables that stretched from the buildings, connecting the city by air for the metalbenders. It looked kind of fun, in a way. It seemed like the sort of thing the Avatar should be able to do.

She waved at them.

"I'm recruiting for my Avatar army," she called. "If any of you feel like Chief Jerkfong doesn't appreciate your talents, my door is open. Prior experience with polar bear dogs is preferred. Automatic promotion to anyone who can teach me metalbending."

They gathered on the cables like birds and didn't answer.

Whatever. Korra found the Equalist neighborhoods. The metalbenders seemed leery to follow.

As long as she kept walking, she wouldn't go to sleep. But now, in the Equalist neighborhoods, adrenaline began to flow. Hard to say where it came from, since she had forgotten to eat something, but she was being watched. They were subtle about it, unlike the metalbenders, which made it more obvious what their intentions were.

Korra was too tired to care. She banged on the first door and grabbed the person who opened it.

"Where's Yu Lin's place? I gotta talk to him."

"Two streets down, to the left and there's an apartment. He's on the third floor."

Korra pushed him inside and left. He watched her go, then tucked the knife back into the back of his pants.

* * *

Korra pounded on the door of the apartment. Yu Lin opened it.

"Hey," Korra said. "I'm real tired, so can we do this quick? Chief Jerkjerk is a jerk, and the Council is at least two-fifths clownfish."

Yu Lin's catfish mustache quivered. "Avatar Korra."

"So I notice your weirdoes in black following me. Kind of makes me mad. My legs hurt."

"Would you like to sit down?"

"No. So I thought I was welcome here."

"You are."

"I said don't waste my time."

"Things changed last night."

Korra folded her arms across her chest. "In case you didn't notice, I protected Equalists last night. Benders didn't blow up that hospital. Firebending doesn't look like that."

He sighed heavily. Korra tried to concentrate on his face. She hadn't been able to see him so well that night. He looked tired, mostly. Tired and serious. His cheeks were sunken in. He hadn't slept either.

"Equalists want balance," he said.

"That's what I'm here for. I thought we could work together. I think we're similar."

He hesitated. "Why?"

"You stayed up waiting for me. You knew I was coming, and you stayed up waiting." Korra would've grinned, but the energy wasn't there. "So what did you want to say?"

"Do you know what happened at the Pajau Yan hospital yesterday?"

Korra shrugged. "I'll write a letter to Arnook. Do hospitals normally blow up? Maybe one of the patients just wanted to get away from all the sick people."

"Goodbye, Avatar Korra."

He closed the door.

Korra knocked. He opened it.

"What?"

"First of all, I don't want to fight you."

"Okay."

"You seem tough. I saw you take down the Fire Ferrets. Mako really hates you. Well, I'm friends with them now, so don't go beating them up anymore, and I'll keep them away from Equalist stuff."

There was a delay, like he was slow to process what she was saying. "We have found a way of dealing with the problem Mako poses."

"Okay. Second, when are you going to teach me that stuff you did with those twin sticks of yours? I need some sleep, and then I have to try airbending again, but afterward."

"No."

"Okay, well, I asked. If you change your mind…."

"Goodbye, Avatar Korra."

He shut the door. Korra rolled her eyes. Why were her best friends in the cities criminals and beggars?

The beggars. She should find Nuodon. The…queen, or whoever, could explain things to her. The city was a ship tipping over, and she could help her find the right direction to blow a wind to right the sails.

…Later. She was tired. Tired, and deeply annoyed. Better she got some sleep before trying to talk to anyone. Her eyes half closed, Korra began the long walk back to Air Temple Island. She stopped once or twice to doze against a wall. Just thirty seconds turned into one minute, then ten.

Naga wasn't on the steps. She must have gone up. She would be sleeping under a tree.

No White Lotus sentries. That was really weird. They must've been dealing with the Pajau Yan thing, or whatever Tenzin was doing. Korra didn't care, debating between the kitchen and the bed, and deciding on the kitchen.

There was the smell of hot buns that flooded her mouth with drool, and the sight of Jie Ming tied up and gagged. When she saw Korra, tears streamed from her eyes.

Korra pulled the gag out. "What happened?" Jie Ming shook her head, crying. "What happened?" Korra demanded.

"They took your dog."

It took Korra a moment to understand. "They took Naga?" Jie Ming nodded. "Who?" Jie Ming shook her head, her eyes shut.

Korra burnt through Jie Ming's ropes in one slash. She might've burned her, but she didn't care. "Send a message to Tenzin, then free the others."

"Where are you going?"

Korra was already leaving. "I'm going to find my dog."


	10. Korra Gets Help From Older People

_Korra met Naga on one of her runs. She used to run a lot when she was little, before she knew about the sort of exercises earthbenders did, when her bending was too wild and untamed to be practiced at full force in front of others. Sometimes it seemed like the whole village was moving and she was standing still, and other times it seemed the opposite. Finished with Arnook's lessons, Katara busy, and that left nothing for Korra. She didn't play with the children since Arnook had come to the South Pole. She went on fishing trips until she saw how uncomfortable Daddy was, and then she stopped doing that. Mommy was boring, always working on clothes or steaming pots of stew. Skinning whale yaks was fascinating, but Arnook didn't like that. So Korra went on long runs. There was no grace in the motion of a child with heavy boots and furs on, but it took up the time and left her hurting in the good sort of way after, a layer of sweat between her skin and the heavy furs that kept out the freezing ice._

_One such run brought her to the edge of the northeastern shore. There she saw a polar bear dog puppy, just a cub. Korra looked for its mother, but she couldn't find it. It was alone. It was looking out at the water._

_Such things were normal. Tiger shark, probably, or killer seal. Still, Korra's chest always felt different after a long run, more open, like everything was closer together and easier for her short limbs to reach._

_"Hungry?" Korra said. The puppy didn't look at her. Korra tugged a fish out of the water with her bending and held it up, waving it. "Here, puppy. You hungry?" It ignored her, so she tossed it to her. It flopped on the ice and fell into the water, unnoticed by the puppy, who was apparently really stupid._

_Korra was patient. She waited for about an hour before the puppy even sat down, still looking at the water three feet in front of it. Korra caught another fish in a sphere of water and dropped it on the puppy's head. She spluttered, snorted and shook her head. The fish flopped into the water and escaped._

_Okay, so the puppy was just too dumb. Probably she was just lost, and Mommy was fine._

_Except no polar bear dog mommy would ever leave a cub. So Korra waited another hour, cooking herself a small fish with water she boiled right on the ice. Then, when she tried feeding her again, the polar bear dog snatched at the fish. In seconds the whole thing was gone. Korra got it another one, then a third. By the fifth, it was sated, and ignored the sixth altogether, so Korra ate that one, mostly so they would be eating together, like she did with Arnook when she wasn't training with Katara in the desert._

_"I'll be back," Korra said, getting up to leave. The next day, she was back, and so was the puppy, or maybe she had never moved. She was hungry immediately though, and they ate together, only maybe thirty feet apart._

_Over a week the distance shrank, and the puppy sat up when Korra arrived, whining, jerking her paw like she wanted Korra to do the tugging motion that called the fish. When Korra delayed, the puppy pushed roughly at her arm._

_"You're smart," Korra said, pulling fish out of the water. "I think I'll call you Naga. You're my animal guardian." Naga set about the fish, turning them into bloody bits of bone._

_So Korra was able to touch Naga while she ate, which was nice. She went back to the village after a few hours. She was surprised to see Naga had followed._

_Well, Korra thought it was great, but Arnook and the men of the tribe weren't so keen. They drove Naga off with spears, even though Korra screamed and pulled at Arnook's leg. He gave the No Polar Bear Dogs lecture again. Korra wasn't really in the mood to hear that, so she tore down most of the Ice Hall and then went out to find Naga. The villagers tried to follow, but they couldn't waterbend half as good as she could and they knew it, so why were they even trying? Naga was back at the northeastern shore._

_"People are jerks," Korra announced. "Hungry?" Korra pulled up some fish anyway. Soon they would learn to stay away from the northeastern shore, judging by the way Naga went through them. "You'd think they would listen to their Avatar a bit more. I'm not saying all the time, but more."_

_Naga ate the fish._

_"At least you appreciate what I have to offer," Korra said. "People are all big stinking traitors. Not like polar bear dogs. You can trust 'em. Your mommy's just busy, maybe, or probably dead."_

_"I hope you didn't include me in that," said an old voice. Korra spun around. It was Katara, looking tired._

_"How'd you followed me?"_

_"I taught you everything you know. In fact, you are the second Avatar I have taught waterbending. I know all the tricks."_

_"Fine, whatever," Korra said. "I never said I was better than you."_

_"So have you chosen?"_

_"Chosen what?"_

_"Your animal companion?"_

_Korra considered it. "I'd like a shark, maybe. A…a flying shark. That can breathe fire!"_

_"Are you going to care for this polar bear dog?"_

_"She's a puppy. Her name is Naga."_

_"And will she guard you, and keep you all your days?"_

_"Sure."_

_"And you two are inseparably bonded by an unbreakable spiritual connection that existed before you even met?"_

_Korra thought about it. "Yeah, I'd say so."_

_"Fine. I will tell Arnook."_

_"Thanks, Katara."_

_Katara nodded and left. Korra held a fish up behind Naga's head and tried to get her to sit._

_Arnook seemed defeated by the time Korra came back with Naga. Katara stood by him, triumphant. She must've threatened to curse him or something. Still, Arnook sat real far away when Naga was there for lessons and meals. It was kind of sad._

* * *

Sustained by dull rage, Korra shook directions out of a hapless passerby and stormed to the City Hall. The door to the Council room was big and metal and locked, so she had to walk all the way back outside, grab a big chunk of the street, go back up the stairs and down the long hall to the doors, and throw all the earth at the wall beside the door, which was made of wood. On the second attempt it burst open. Korra climbed through the wreckage and emerged in a big, mostly bare room, except for a table near the back wall. Tarrlok, Oma, Tenzin, and two people Korra didn't recognized were arranged around the table in a semicircle, looking shocked, maybe because someone had busted through the wall. In front of them, hands clasped behind her back, was Chief Beifong, turning to look at her with horror, then hatred.

"Hi, Tenzin." Korra waved. To Beifong: "I have a crime to report."

"Take it up with the station," Beifong snapped, starting toward her. "You're under arrest for…for…_that_!" She gestured furiously at the rubble.

Korra didn't move. "There were extenuating circumstances."

"Such as?"

"I have a crime to report."

Beifong was growling. Normally Korra would've enjoyed it, but instead she just wanted to hit something. Beifong would do nicely.

"Oh, for the love of—"

Tenzin jumped over the table, scattering papers on the floor in his backdraft. A gust of air cut the space between Korra and Beifong, and then he was grabbing her and pulling her away.

"Korra, what is going on?" he demanded. He was more impatient and less angry than Korra expected. The heavy bags under his eyes probably had something to do with that.

Korra pulled her arm out of his grip. "While you were busy here, somebody stole Naga."

"What happened last night?"

"No, this morning, after I came back. People stole her from the island."

Tenzin took a moment. Korra was getting annoyed by that, even when it was her. "What do you mean?"

"Jie Ming was tied up, and Naga was gone, so I let Jie Ming out and came here."

Tenzin's eyes were wide. "What about Pema? My children?"

Korra shrugged.

"Lin, call a dozen officers and come with me to the island at once," Tenzin said, striding toward the door. Beifong followed immediately, not even asking. "Korra, come!"

"I'm looking for my dog."

"Then _stay_!"

Tenzin went out into the hall and disappeared. Beifong bended the door shut behind them.

Korra faced the rest of the Council. "I'm looking for my dog."

"Come at once," Tarrlok said. "Naga, your polar bear dog has been taken?"

Korra nodded. She came up to the table. Tarrlok looked so concerned. There was also Oma, looking bored, and two others, one fat, bespectacled and in green, the other covered in thick blue. He even wore gloves that covered his hands, leaving only his brown face exposed, and he looked half-dead.

Tarrlok noticed her gaze. "This is Qopuk, first among equals"—he gestured to the fat man in green, who looked at her like an owl—"And this is Shiro." He patted the dying man.

"Is he okay?"

"I speak," Shiro said. His voice was very deep, deeper than any voice Korra had heard before.

"Are you okay?"

"No." He closed his eyes.

"Shiro is very tired," Tarrlok said. "Now, how can we help you, Avatar Korra?"

"Ah! So you're the Avatar!" Qopuk explained, pointing a thick trembling finger at her. "Is it true? You can bend all the elements?"

Korra made a flame tiredly. "Yup."

"Oh, dear, I have so many questions—"

"Qopuk, the Avatar has been robbed," Tarrlok said, perhaps more sharply than he intended, but he looked tired. They all did except for Oma. Maybe it was makeup—no. She looked too sharply at the others. At her. Oma wasn't tired at all.

"I apologize," Qopuk said, but he was clearly excited. "What happened?"

"My dog got taken."

"A polar bear dog," Tarrlok clarified. "Her companion from the South Pole."

"They are quite heavy," Qopuk said doubtfully. "Perhaps your, ah, dog, simply wandered off? Shiro? Eh? Shiro? Where do polar bear dogs like to go? Shiro is the Representative of the Southern Water Tribe," he added.

"She would be sleeping. She was sleeping on the steps up to the temple when I left her. She was tired."

Qopuk lifted his spectacles and rubbed at his eyes. "Yes, we all are. Perhaps—not to frighten you—it—"

"She."

"—_She_ rolled off the steps and fell?"

Korra's stomach twisted. "I would have seen."

"Yes, I suppose so," Qopuk said doubtfully.

"Also, Jie Ming was tied up, and she said people took her. Took Naga."

"Who is Jie Ming?" Qopuk said. Oma gave a laugh.

"It was Equalists, then," she said, smiling thinly at Korra.

"That was what I was going to suggest," Tarrlok said quickly, as Korra stared dully at Oma. "Equalists have been running rampant since the attack. Do you know Police Captain Saikhan—have you met him? I can introduce you—thinks they are responsible? Undoubtedly they wanted to strike at the Avatar, who is symbolic of bending's power and significance."

"Maybe," Korra said, remembering Yu Lin's distance. What did that have to do with Jie Ming?

Oma's smile sharpened. "Ask your past lives if they know where a polar bear dog may be hidden."

Korra had never learned how to do that. She had faked it a couple of times when there wasn't any other way._ Ooh, yes, Avatar, uh, Pukpuk says heavy waves this time of year means the fish will be abundant in the coming months._ Why had Oma laughed at Jie Ming's name?

"Logistically, that is quite impossible," Qopuk said. "Full-grown polar bear dogs weigh upwards of a thousand pounds. They cannot simply be carried off."

"Jie Ming didn't lie," Korra said firmly. A bark of laughter, doglike, from Oma.

"I don't know the lady in question," Qopuk said. "I do not doubt her honor; however, she may be mistaken. How many men would it take to lift a polar bear dog?"

Korra stared at him.

"At least ten, I suspect," he said, when it was clear an answer was not forthcoming. "Can you imagine ten men still standing after presumably defeating the White Lotus sentries and having the strength to carry a thousand pounds of presumably resisting polar bear dog down those tall steps, across the water, and to a hiding spot without being spotted?"

Korra couldn't.

"So let us rethink the possibilities," Qopuk said. ("Yes, exactly," Tarrlok said. "How did the Equalists do it?") "Suppose that they did not take your polar bear dog. Suppose they made it—"

"Her."

"Right, yes. Suppose they made her disappear."

Korra stared at him.

"Qopuk, I think our young Avatar would prefer than you be rather more straightforward than usual in your exposition," Tarrlok said. "I as well would like some clarification."

"Polar bear dogs don't just disappear," Korra said.

Now Qopuk looked uncomfortable. "I'm sure the Equalists couldn't have taken a polar bear dog far in broad daylight. It is the sort of thing people tend to notice. Perhaps when you return to the island someone will have found your pet."

"You do seem very tired," Tarrlok said. "Perhaps you got mixed up. Why don't you return to the temple with Tenzin and get some sleep? If your dear Naga has not shown up by the time you wake, then I assure you have my full resources as Representative at your disposal." Oma snorted. Shiro's eyes were closed, like he was sleeping. Qopuk was still looking at her as if she was a fascinating kind of metal tool brought in on one of the merchant ships.

"These problems have a way of working themselves out," Tarrlok said.

Korra stared at them. And left.


	11. Sleeping, Thinking

The island was crawling with police, like little bugs skittering over the ice floes trying not to drown. Korra tried not to step on them as she plodded into the main building. Tenzin was there, arguing with Chief Beifong. They cut off when they saw Korra enter.

"I'm going to bed," Korra announced. "Don't wake me unless you found Naga."

"Pema and the children are all right," Beifong said. "The sentries reported being attacked by a group of chi blockers posing as visitors. They couldn't have taken a polar bear dog the size of Naga off the island."

"'K," Korra said, turning down the hall. "I'm going to bed."

* * *

It was at times like this when Mako felt like the world was made for him. Sure, it had tossed him and his brother out on the streets, but that's what made them tough, made them smart. More importantly, that's what led them to Zolt.

Zolt took them in because they were skinny enough to be desperate and just fat enough to show they were smart, despite it all. Not that they had any fat, but you couldn't see their bones sticking through their shoulders either.

Not that Zolt needed the help of two starving kids. He just didn't like competition, and found use in things others would destroy. That's why he was boss of half of Republic City, Chief Beifong being the primary reason he wasn't boss of all of it. Because she was immune to his Power.

Zolt had a Power, and everyone knew it, though no one breathed a word. It was his Golden Eyes. It was a sure sign of a spirit's blessing, though Mako wasn't sure how anyone actually knew that. But there was no denying that Zolt was hypnotic. It had even worked on Mako, for a while, before he had seen the reality. Zolt was cruel—that was part of his charisma. But Zolt was also angry, jealous and bitter. That was the work of no spirit. Zolt was merely a man.

That was why Mako had to laugh when he read the newspaper the day after the riots, they day after the Avatar had proved so refreshingly malleable. The Equalists, Yu Lin who despised him so, had done the other half of his work for him. The most disparate elements of the city came together to gift Mako something wonderful. Zolt's lightningbending wasn't the only ability Mako had inherited from the old man, apparently.

Mako tossed the newspaper at Shady Shin, who flinched as it struck his face. He couldn't catch it because his hands were occupied with rope knotted through the fingers behind his back.

"Well?" Mako said, drawing the red scarf around his neck. "How much of that is true?"

"The hell should I know?" Shin said. "Equalists went crazy yesterday. They have bombs and smoke. That's probably how they did the hospital."

"They say Zolt did it."

"You believe that crap? There's no such thing as lightningbending."

"Shin, you always were nothing more than the gunk on the bottom of Zolt's shoe.

"Going out?" Bolin said, crouching by the wall.

"Of course. I have to talk to all the new troops."

"Putting on that scarf doesn't make you Zolt," Shin said.

Mako paused. "No, it's definitely not the scarf that does it. Bolin, feel free to turn Shin's face into mush. Otherwise, things need to be in shape before Avatar Korra visits, which could be any time.

"Going after Yu Lin?" Shin tried. "You don't know how the Equalists were organized after last night."

"That's not going to save you, Shin. Besides, everyone knows Equalists don't have organization. That's the whole point."

Mako tucked the scarf in under his coat and left.

* * *

"Get some sleep, Captain," Lin said.

Captain Saikhan looked up from the pile of reports that only seemed to have grown since Lin had been out. "Can't. Busy."

"There are bags under your eyes, Captain."

"You didn't look."

"I can hear them."

Lin set her helmet on the rack—Saikhan shook his head at that; she wasn't a beat cop—and looked at him. "Oh, forgive me. I heard the bags under your eyes, but not the red in them. Get some sleep."

"And you?"

"I'll hold the fort down for a while."

"That's what I was doing so you could sleep."

"I don't sleep."

"What happened on Air Temple Island?"

"That…is unclear, at present. No one was harmed."

"I wouldn't call chi blocking harmless. What did they steal?"

"The Avatar's polar bear dog."

"The monster's monster? Why would they take that?"

"The better question is how they took it."

"…Ah. Tough, getting a polar bear dog to go where it doesn't want to."

"I agree."

"Where's the Avatar?"

"Asleep."

"Lucky her."

"You could be just as lucky. Get some sleep. That's an order."

"Yes, Chief."

* * *

Nuodon was underground, in the castle where the Queen waited. It was better than being up top, that's for sure. The Queen had sent the message out on all the radios the instant news of the attack at the hospital hit. The Queen knew exactly what the metalbenders were saying to each other. Something about seismo-things. Magic, basically. The Queen was basically the Avatar—she could bend all four elements. She just had to work at it a little harder than most of her spiritual ancestors.

The sewers didn't smell great, but they had cleared out lots of space. Still, it felt cramped sitting between Penguin and Dodo, two of the saner members of their society, listening the the water rush overhead. Penguin was sane because he was perfectly normal, even polite, and dressed elegantly—for a beggar—except for the fact that he seemed convinced everyone wore a penguin on their head except for himself. Dodo was sane because he thought just fine. It was his memory that was the problem. He had no short term memory, and as the short term became long term, he lost that too.

Nuodon was perfectly sane. He just thought differently about some things. Like lightning. He had tended to try to capture it. In a jar, usually.

"Storm coming," Nuodon said.

Penguin elegantly laid one leg atop the other. "Dear sir, how can you tell?"

"He's got a feeling in his bones," Dodo said.

"I know lightning," Nuodon said. "Lightning is going to strike. The air's all charged. It's…earth-skin, basically. I remember."

"Remember what?" said Dodo.

"What the water vapor feels like."

"Right, water."

"We were talking about lightning."

"I knew that."

"Lightning is condensed water."

"Obviously."

Nuodon sighed.

* * *

Pema was struggling to accept the investigation with the degree of Air Nomad poise she usually aspired to. The metalbenders were trying to figure out the answers to questions like Who Did It, Where Did They Go, and, Pema's favorite, No Seriously, How Do You Steal A Polar Bear Dog Anyway?

The metalbenders' job was to stir things up. That's how you got clues. It was also how you got nightmares, but their job wasn't to prevent the psychic attacks the children were all too capable of inflicting upon themselves. No, that wasn't their job at all.

Pema was trying not to stir things up. She served snacks to the children at their usual time. Somewhat subverting the effect was half a dozen metal officers stamping about, poking under things and asking the same half-dozen questions over and over. Much as she wanted to snap at them, she was an airbender's wife, and so she escorted them out with small cakes.

Out wasn't much better. The White Lotus sentries were embarrassed in only the way men could be, expecting too much of themselves and then looking for the opportunity to prove otherwise well after the inevitable had been confirmed. People came up to tour Air Temple Island every week. Equalists didn't fight with weapons. What was security going to do, handcuff everyone before the tour?

No more tours, some were suggesting, as if that was the problem. She'd talk to Tenzin about it. The tours were ending over her dead body. And Tenzin, judging by three kids and a fourth on the way, would find that argument very persuasive.

It was only brought up because some of the metalbenders had said some things too loudly. Pema chastised them and took away their cake. This earned some desperate apologies, but the damage was done. Now the White Lotus sentries were firing off salutes tighter than the corsets that were now so fashionable in the city, and they flexed their muscles and stood sharply at their posts as if by being efficient and soldierly enough they could undo time.

Korra was another matter altogether. Her stint as a crime fighter in the city had been worrying in a good sort of way, the same way Pema couldn't help but fret when Jinora tried to make tornadoes. It just didn't seem healthy, yet she couldn't doubt Tenzin's mastery of airbending. But the chaos after the attack at Pajau Yan was a different story. Korra had…_fought_ someone or something, Pema still wasn't sure what, and suddenly it felt like everything was slipping out of control.

Pema had expected Korra to rage. Instead, she had looked so, so tired. And gone to bed. Tenzin was sleeping too, now, after he had fallen asleep on her shoulder protesting.

Darkness fell. The children, after some coaxing, slept. The metalbenders, after some kindness and tea, left. The White Lotus sentries, after some shouting, calmed down and did their job. Now it was 2 a.m., and the door to Korra's room creaked open. Footsteps padded down the hall and into the room.

Korra looked at her. "Naga?" Pema shook her head. "Where's Tenzin?"

"Sleeping."

Korra glanced outside. Her gaze lingered, and then she said, "Oh. Right. Night time."

"Korra, how are you? Would you like some tea?"

"If Naga had a few hours to sleep, she would still be really hungry. If there was meat, and the smell of someone familiar…."

"Yes?"

"Just thinking out loud." She turned back to the hall. "Wake me the instant Tenzin gets up."

"As you say, Avatar Korra. Good night."

* * *

Korra fell asleep before she had a chance to feel guilty. The sleep felt long, as if some part of her was still awake and counting the hours. Then she did feel guilty when she awoke and felt so, so good for having slept, a moment that lasted too long before she remembered Naga, and she still felt good, her muscles humming in relief, as she plodded down the hall to find Tenzin. Pema was there instead, so Korra went back. Then she had some time to feel guilty properly before falling asleep again.

She awoke before Jie Ming knocked on her door with a tray of hot tea. Korra sent her away and found Tenzin looking like he had been dropped in the freezing water and just hauled out.

"Let's meditate," Korra said.

Tenzin looked at her. "Okay."

They went outside and sat in the soft grass.

"Is there a reason for this, Korra?"

Korra placed her fists together. "Yup. It's time Aang talked to me."


	12. Communication

"What is the Avatar's condition?"

"Stable. For now."

"Then…get me the writer. We have just enough time to prepare."

* * *

Korra couldn't remember much except for vague impressions of purple and green. For some reason it made her think of the southern lights. Purple meant the spirits were at their most intense. Korra wondered what the purple and green stuff actually was, and then Arnook's voice chased the thought out of her head.

"Well?" Tenzin had asked. Korra shook her head.

* * *

Lin set two alarm clocks and kept the blinds open so the sunlight would stream in, and she still overslept by three hours. Any other officer would have been able to ask someone to wake them. She washed her face, got dressed, and took a cable to the department.

Hiroshi Sato was waiting there.

"Ah, Chief Beifong." He smiled broadly. "Your officers said you would be in."

"Hope you haven't been waiting long," she said curtly. "What can I do for you?"

He held a folder; he drew papers from it. "I have a proposition for you that I think will be of some benefit to the city. May we discuss this in your office?"

* * *

Bolin wasn't sure how things had changed so quickly. They had spent three years fighting with the other gangs and the criminal organizations, especially Zolt's triad, scrapping for territory. Now in a span of days the triad was smashed, splintered into two dozen disorganized groups folding themselves into Mako's new organization or being destroyed. Few had ever seen lightningbending before, and all exceptions would spill no more secrets.

Mako seemed drunk, barely able to process what was happening. Bolin kept things in order. That's why when the Avatar showed up at their door he was the one who greeted her.

"I'm looking for my dog," Korra said.

"Hi," Bolin said.

"Want to help me find my dog?"

"Your dog?" Bolin vaguely remembered having read something about an attack on Air Temple Island. He had been too distracted to pay much attention. The city had seemed sane a week ago. Now the Equalists were hunched in, streets bristling with soldiers like the borders of a foreign kingdom, and sentiment in the city was so black the very name Equalist seemed like a curse.

"My polar bear dog," Korra said, as if anyone could forget the thousand pounds of muscle and huge mouth of very sharp teeth that was Naga.

"Right," Bolin said. "Wait, how do you kidnap a polar bear dog?"

"What's the green and purple stuff?" Korra said.

"Huh?"

"I mean, what _is_ it?"

"I—I don't…."

"Naga is a lot friendlier than me. A face she knows, a familiar smell, some meat. She was really hungry. I should have fed her."

"Um—"

"I really wasn't thinking. What's an Equalist, anyway?"

"I—"

"Get your Satocycle. I'm talking to Yu Lin."

"Oh…oh dear…."

* * *

Riding on a Satocycle was a lot like the ship that had taken her to Republic City. It was very loud, and moved very fast. The wind was a foe. Bolin seemed nervous.

"Is this going to be a problem?"

He started. "Huh?"

"You. Mako. The Fire Ferrets seem to have grown."

"I…things have been crazy in the city lately, and people group together for support. I didn't think you'd notice."

"I'm the Avatar."

"Right…."

There were a pair of Equalists on Satocycles at the corner of the street Bolin chose to enter through. They didn't stop them, but the people on the rooftops did follow them. There were two, then four, and then Satocycles behind them and along the sides. Korra urged Bolin to speed up. They were near to the apartment where she had met Yu Lin when four riders swerved out in front and cut them off.

"Did you take my dog?" Korra said, dismounting the back of the Satocycle.

One of the Equalists, a woman, answered her. "Avatar Korra, you are no longer welcome in Equalist territory. Please take your friend and—"

"Did you take my _dog_?" Korra shouted. She reached for fire and she found it, sending it from her heart through her arms and out into the world, burning and scorching. There were people shouting, the earth shifting behind her—a fist appeared in the corner of her eye; Korra grabbed it, brought it down and her knee up—grabbed the hair, knee up again, palms burning—"

"Hold!" a voice commanded.

In the moment before she realized it wasn't Arnook Korra dropped the body, which wasn't quite screaming, more a sort of ragged gurgle. The man standing in front of her was short, and he had large two moles, one under each eye. His arms were clasped behind his back, military-like.

"Forgive these hotheaded youths," he said. "We are all rather tense these days."

Korra didn't look at the body at her feet. "I just want my dog."

"We understand."

One of the Equalists were still screaming, holding her face. Yucheng gestured, and two others lifted her onto the back of a Satocycle, which took her away. Korra heard someone breathing and realized it was Bolin, standing behind her.

"I want to talk to Yu Lin."

"He is not here. My name is Yucheng. I can tell him anything you wish."

"Tell him…tell him…who are you?"

"Yucheng."

"I want my dog."

"Avatar Korra, I suggest you return to Air Temple Island. We Equalists are working hard to restore balance in the city, of which you are a primary factor. Your polar bear dog is undoubtedly key to your own emotional stability. Therefore we are seeking to resolve this matter expeditiously. Read the newspaper. The world seeks to educate you."

"You want me to go back."

"I think you will get your answer soon. Equalists are working hard to restore balance in the city. You understand, or you do not. Who attacked Pajau Yan?"

"You guys, everyone says."

"Go away, Avatar Korra."

"I have a question," Bolin said. "What is this, some kind of army? You guys are splitting off from the city? Is this a revolution?"

Yucheng did not look at him. "Avatar Korra can answer all your questions, if she will get her dog back."

"You took her," Korra said. "I know it was you. I'm going to find her and kill you."

"Go away, Avatar Korra."

They left.

* * *

Korra waited on the island and hated it. Jie Ming stayed far away from her. Even Tenzin seemed nervous to approach her, and the kids stayed back like they sensed a wild animal. Only Pema dared brave her space, offering her food and company. Korra refused both.

"Pema?"

Pema turned around. "Yes, Korra?"

"In the South Pole we'd be visited by merchants sometimes. They'd do weird things. For one, they were always cold. They didn't know how to walk on the ice, either. Kids would throw snowballs at them, but they weren't supposed to. The merchants were funny people from a long ways away, so we weren't supposed to bother them about odd things. Are Equalists like that."

"I suppose so."

"Probably if they were quick and in a big group, they could be in the city with a polar bear dog and no one would say anything. Those big cars."

"Big cars?"

"The…the big ships! The ones that carry things!"

"Trucks?"

"Some are really big. Big enough for Naga."

"Korra—"

"What's chi blocking?"

"Chi blocking is a technique used to disable bending. Chi blockers target pressure points to disable movement—"

"Works on a polar bear dog?"

"I don't think anyone has tried. But Korra—"

"Thanks, Pema. Go away, Pema."

Later Tenzin spoke to her. "Korra, would you like to train? You seem tense."

"I don't like anyone in the city. They're all liars. They're all making my job harder."

"Your job is to learn airbending. Leave the citybending to the Council."

"What's Beifong's problem, anyway?"

"She's very serious about the laws of Republic City."

"I'm a judge higher than any law. Arnook said I judge the judges."

Tenzin licked his lips. "He is not wrong. But…that is not all. The Avatar is something transcendent, but the Avatar is also human. My father—"

"Aang won't talk to me."

"You must talk to him."

"I've tried! I've tried my whole life!"

"Yes, you have."

"I—" Korra hesitated before she banished the confusion. Tenzin never answered the way she expected. "Maybe none of it's real, anyway. You ever seen a raya?"

"I have not."

Hours later the evening newspaper hit the stands. Korra took it from a White Lotus sentry and made Tenzin read it to her. Ancient scrolls were one thing, but the patterns in the newspaper were different harder, slowed her down.

When he got to the ads, Korra made him stop and repeat something. Someone was selling exotic meats.

"What's exotic?"

"A meat from far away. Probably something imported from the Earth Kingdom."

"And what did it say about payment?"

"It wants…specie. Gold or silver—"

"I know what specie is, Tenzin!"

"I apologize. 'Specie to be weighed at a balance for the meat….'"

Korra didn't hear the rest. Her head was flushed with fire, her hands shaky and weak. A voice was screaming—

—And finally, a voice answered.

* * *

Lin was enjoying this. It was a pity Tenzin wasn't there. She wanted to see the shock on his face.

"This is utterly illegal," Oma snapped.

"It's not," Lin said. "It's really not."

"You will lose your job," Tarrlok said, glaring at her from behind steepled fingers.

"Maybe."

"It's crude," Qopuk said. "This poster has at least half-a-dozen references to Pajau Yan. Are you hoping to recruit the dregs of the mob?"

"We'd like the mobs to stop forming. And we need more officers."

"We'll never fund you," Oma said.

"You mostly don't. The city has its own funds."

"We won't support this."

"With all due respect, I don't care. The police is a volunteer, civilian force. The Council in no way commands it."

Qopuk adjusted his spectacles, momentarily too excited to speak. "But…but…_nonbenders_ in the police? It's unheard of!"

"If they man the desks, it's fine," Tarrlok said. "I am sure paperwork must be quite the concern for Chief Beifong."

"They'll be beat officers, most of them," Lin said. "They can't move like metalbenders, but they will be more versatile in a lot of situations. Chi blocking is perfect for policing—effective, nonlethal—"

But now the Council was in an uproar. "Chi blocking?" Qopuk stuttered. "That is illegal!"

"We have a judge working on that, actually—"

"We?" Oma snapped. "Who dares defy the laws—"

"Hiroshi Sato. He is providing most of the money for the expansion."

"And what does Captain Saikhan think of this?" Tarrlok demanded.

"I didn't ask my subordinate for his opinion."

The noise seemed to have roused Shiro. "Where is Sato?"

"At the university. His daughter is defending her thesis, apparently."

"What is a thesis and how does one defend it?"

"I didn't ask."

"Hm," Shiro said, and went back to sleep. Lin's lip curled. They needed a new Representative. Just how did Shiro win reelection?

Oma was grinding her teeth in frustration. Just days ago Oma had gloated at her supposed inability to keep peace on the streets. Now the pieces were falling into place: more officers, a symbol of equality, and looks of impotent rage and horror on the faces of the Council, so beautiful, so sweet.

"Is that all?" Lin beamed. "Yes? Good day."

Triumph carried Lin out the city hall and quite a ways down the street. It wasn't until she felt the drops of water on her face that Lin actually looked up and focused on the messages her eyes were sending her.

Rising impossibly high out of the bay separating Republic City from Air Temple Island was a wave. Lin had only a moment to latch onto a wire with her cables before the overwhelming wall of water broke and crashed down on the city.


	13. The Avatar Expresses Her Concerns

There was a space. Korra had to fill it.

_Find dog._

A stream of information as bright as a star seared the back of her eyes. It was too much—she had to open her eyes—now Tenzin was rearing back as if something bright had blinded him.

Didn't matter. Tenzin wasn't important.

There was too much hitting her: move breathe stand fly heat and drip and hard and one quadrant she didn't recognize at all. So many different things she could do, and the light that filled her wanted release.

Korra brought her hand down from her head and in front of her face. In doing so she brought her hand down in an arc.

Korra heard a very loud splash. She looked to her side where Air Temple Island was no more. It ended at her feet, and the rest had fell away somehow.

Didn't matter. Korra didn't need to run to the edge of the cliff when she could just pull it to her. She fell into the bay. There was a lot of water there, so she took all of it. It sphered around her like the light said it would if she did this with her arms and hands, and then she rose out of the water and still inside it.

She wasn't flying. A thick, gushing tail of water extended from the sphere into the bay. Korra leaned on it as she rose higher into the air, surveying the city.

The light's suggestions for the city were much weaker. It was easier to move an island than to find a dog, and the city was strange, much younger than water.

Korra moved forward, and she brought the water with her.

* * *

Jie Ming didn't see Korra cut off a third of the island, but she heard it, and felt the island shudder. When she turned, Korra was already disappearing off the edge of the cliff. Jie Ming's brain was stuttering uselessly, but her ears picked up a distant roar like the sound of water running, but very far away, yet loud enough to hear.

Something rose out of the bay where Korra had been. It looked like the water had become alive…and transformed into a dragon…and was taking off for the city at an impossible rate, held up by a long, thick tail of water that was already stretching out half a mile….

Jie Ming's training kicked in, and before she realized it she was already moving past the stunned White Lotus sentries and down the path to the bay. But the bay was a storm, and boiling hot. The water was a churning vortex that had already torn up the ferry.

Tenzin was there. He seemed to think for a moment, then he motioned for her to come near.

"We need to calm Korra down," he said. "She may listen to you."

Jie Ming shook her head and clung to his cloak. Tenzin took a deep breath and thrust his arms out, creating a spinning ball of air around them that buoyed them into the air. Then, still holding his breathe, he began windmilling his arms, creating a sort of rudder beneath them that cut through the water.

They crossed the bay but far, far too slowly.

* * *

"Remind me never to get on the Avatar's bad side," Mako said as they got on their Satocycles.

"Where are we going?"

"Same place everyone is going. The high ground."

* * *

"Stay on the top floor," Professor Unalaq advised.

Asami Sato swallowed and nodded. "What's happening out there?"

"Care to offer a hypothesis, Dr. Sato?"

"Please. Asami. I can't have you calling me Doctor."

Professor Unalaq waited. Asami smiled.

"Am I still your student? Fine, then. Here is my hypothesis…."

Asami looked out the window at the distant jet of water as thick as a building winding above the city. Steam began to rise. The water was boiling. The water of the bay had become a dragon, and it was ravaging the streets below.

"I think the Avatar is upset."

* * *

Korra tore through the streets inside her voluminous blue sphere of water, ripping up the street beneath her, scattering signs and brushing away the parked Satomobiles still stuck in the gridlock exactly like a tsunami crashing through. Then she stopped. She rose, supported by the long tail of water pumping noisily out for miles behind her, and she surveyed the city. Below, there were people screaming, running. Others kneeled, bowed in supplication and awe.

_Find dog._

But nothing came up.

_Find dog!_

She had to plunge through the masses of data to find it, and it took time. The stream of information was so thin compared to the masses of bending techniques and the flow of power. It was outdated too. The streets and buildings barely resembled the hazy map she found. Too frustrating. The sphere of water began to boil.

She dismissed the map. The Avatar moved on.

At some point it occurred to Korra that she could simply pick pieces of the city and shake them until Naga fell out. She drew back until she stood even with the damaged Pajau Yan, leaning on the tail of water.

_Pull? Lift, bring, find._

Something answered. Korra stretched her hands over the city beneath her and looked up to see a woman in dark green armor swinging toward her on a cable. Some kind of blade stuck out of the end of the metal sheet over her wrist.

_The one who didn't help before._

Automatically Korra's hand moved to sweep her aside. The water around her responded, a thin bubbling streaming streaking out from the sphere growing on itself into a crescent half the size of Pajau Yan. Korra watched the boiling wave overtake the armored woman and sweep her away. Her eyes followed and truly noticed for the first time the city beneath her.

Cars floated along in streets so deeply flooded the light poles looked like child-sized versions of themselves. Metalbenders as small as ants bended the streets into hills and troughs, letting the water flow down and be collected. But they were too few, and the spray of water from her tail was fast and constant, and ever time she moved it got longer.

A child floated along one of the streets, flailing after her dog.

_Why did you do this?_ Korra demanded of herself.

Didn't ask, came the answer, or at least that's how it seemed.

_Dry it up. No hurting._

Difficult. This time the answer was weak, faded, like when she had asked for the map of the city, when she asked for anything other than power.

_Then don't want._

The power cut out, and so did the sphere of water. The miles-long tail lost its rigidity, and it crashed down, sending waves rippling through the flood. For a moment Korra felt as if she were floating. Then she dropped toward the earth, and just before her eyes closed, she thought,

_I forgot to get the kid first._


	14. A Breath of Fresh Air

Being awake hurt too much. Korra wanted to go to sleep.

"Korra."

Korra didn't open her eyes. Arnook would shake her awake, but for a moment she could pretend the day wasn't happening.

"Korra, listen to me."

Oh, Tenzin's voice. Korra opened her eyes.

"Ow," she said.

"Korra, you are very badly burnt," said the blue arrow floating in the air. Its voice was very calm, like listening to a breeze. "I need you to hold still and listen to me." Like a blue kite floating in the sky, that's what it was. A blue kite speaking to her.

Korra started to lift her head. Gentle hands restrained her. Dark waves appeared above Korra's face.

"Please hold still, Avatar Korra," said Jie Ming. Korra lowered her head.

"Listen to me," Tenzin said. "There is still time. This can be fixed."

"…Naga."

"Yes, Naga. The Equalists capitulated. We sent metalbenders to pick her up."

"No. She'll hurt them."

"The metalbenders will be safe—"

"Then they'll take her away."

"Who?" Jie Ming said.

"Arnook."

"Listen," Tenzin said. "The Equalists were hurt very badly. The city slopes down slightly, and much of the water ran to their neighborhoods. The metalbenders have been collecting it and running it down to the bay, but they did not go into the Equalist neighborhoods, so things are bad there. But if you go back into the Avatar State, you can—"

"Can't."

"Then lie here and wait. You did it, Korra. You did what you set out to do."

Korra didn't answer.

She felt and heard heavy metal things slam into the ground around them. Feeling it hurt a lot. She wished they wouldn't land so hard.

"Councilman Tenzin, step aside," said a voice. Male. "The Avatar is under arrest."

"Under what charge, Captain Saikhan?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I am not."

The gentle pressure on Korra's hair disappeared.

"Stand aside, Councilman Tenzin."

"No."

"Arrest Councilman—"

There was the sound of an armored body falling to the floor. Some voices shouted, and then two more bodies fell in quick succession. Korra tried to turn her neck to see and found that her neck thought that was a bad idea. She heard metal cables lash out. The air shifted, and another body hit the floor.

"Don't let them stamp the ground," Korra said.

Was that Jie Ming's footsteps she felt running through her whole body? The impact of two more armored bodies shuddered through her. Korra wished they wouldn't.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," Korra said.

"Yes," Jie Ming said almost at the same time. "And you, Councilman Tenzin?"

"I am well. I thought metalbenders were immune to chi blocking."

"Yes, Councilman Tenzin."

"This is a problem."

"I did it," Korra said. "Don't argue. I need a healer."

"I sent my wind into the air. Now that the bay is passable, the White Lotus should be arriving as quickly as they can."

"What…happened?"

"The Avatar State happened. We will discuss things."

Korra felt her face twist horribly. Despite herself, she shook.

"Korra!" Two figures knelt on either side of her.

"Breathe," Tenzin said. "You will not die."

"This was not your fault," Jie Ming said.

"I miss my dog," Korra whispered.

* * *

Reporters were barred from the arraignment. It was only Tenzin, Korra, Tenzin's lawyer, the prosecuting lawyer, and a score of metalbenders. And the judge.

He glared down at Korra. "The defendant is charged with wanton and reckless destruction of property and endangerment of lives, assault and battery on multiple police officers, resisting arrest, evading arrest, and multiple counts of murder in the third degree. How do you plead, Avatar Korra?"

"Guilty," Korra said.

"Prosecution, have you reached an agreement?"

"Sort of," the prosecuting attorney said. He was a skinny man with thick, round glasses. Something about him made Korra want to hoist him up by his underwear. "The defendant has flatly refused jail time."

"What do you mean, refused?"

Tenzin's lawyer stood. "The defendant is the Avatar. Her role in this world transcends human law. The importance of this has been established since at least the time of Avatar Suiko. Avatar Korra must be able to bring balance where and when she deems it necessary in order to ensure the fate of the whole world."

"There are precedents," the prosecutor said. "The founding of our modern justice system, _The World's Nations vs. Ozai_, as well as the later case _Republic City vs. Toph Beifong_. In both cases the defendant was found guilty but not punished by typical means due to the extreme extenuating circumstances."

"In the latter case, it was because Toph Beifong escaped and the court wanted to save face," the judge said. "I'm uncomfortable, to say the least, with a precedent of allowing sufficiently important individuals to avoid punishment for their actions."

"I—" Korra began, but Tenzin touched her arm. She grumbled as the prosecutor answered.

"The Avatar has agreed to fines to be paid out of her income such as she may earn over the course of her lifetime to a fund for the affected families, to labor uncompensated to restore Republic City, heal the wounded, to continue to contribute her bending power as directed by a judge to the benefit of the city for the remainder of her life, to, uh 'inspire children everywhere,' and bring balance to the city, which she has in her professional opinion determined is 'completely out of whack,' your Honor." He swallowed. "She has also expressed a disinterest in cooperating should the court sentence her in such a way as to limit her freedom of movement."

"I think we can all agree we do not want another Toph Beifong situation," Tenzin's lawyer said.

"This is completely unacceptable," the judge said.

"There is also the matter of the extenuating circumstances of the Avatar's mental state at the time her crimes were committed," Tenzin's lawyer said. "To wit, her pet dog had been kidnapped by Equalists. This triggered a defense mechanism known as the 'Avatar State.' She was not fully in control of her actions while in this state, did not knowingly or deliberately activate this state, and deliberately exited this state by force of will upon recognizing the damage it was wreaking."

"Furthermore," the prosecute said, "The flood appears to have, uh, dampened the mood of rage and fury that threatened—"

The judge cut in. "You're telling me that the defendant has access to a super-powered state that she cannot control and can activate at any time? And you _don't_ think I should lock her up?"

"…Civil war," the prosecutor muttered.

The judge banged his gavel. "No, you can't evade the law simply because you're important. The plea is denied."

"Then I plead not guilty," Korra said.

"Any objections?" The judge looked at the prosecutor, who shook his head. He banged his gavel. "Fine, bail is set at one hundred jiangs. You'll be contacted with the date of your trial. Metalbenders—"

"I'll pay," Tenzin sighed.

* * *

Korra's favorite room in the Air Temple was the study. During the day thin orange sheets hung over the windows, casting the room in a gentle glow. It was full of books, but it was also empty of people during the afternoon when Tenzin was out and the Air Acolytes were working. For an hour, it was quiet and still and smelled of dust. She liked to curl up with Naga there and catch up on a fraction of all the sleep she wasn't getting. She didn't go far without Naga lately. That Tenzin was there too this time didn't bother her.

Korra pressed the top of her head further into Naga's heavy flank. "Just how many people died?"

"Every action has consequences," Tenzin said. "Including the consequences of actions not taken. At nearly single point in every life that has ever been, people chose do to something other than to do they most they could to save other people's lives. You are not alone in this."

"Just tell me." He did. Korra exhaled slowly. "That's it, huh? I did that?"

"The Avatar State did."

"_I_ did. You're my airbending master. I'm supposed to accept stuff, right?"

"Yes. Forgive me."

Korra waved a hand. "Forgiven."

A minute passed. Dust settled on Tenzin's bald head. Korra squeezed Naga's loose fat.

"I'm the worst Avatar ever, aren't I?"

"My father, Avatar Aang, was nearly killed once while in the Avatar State. Did Arnook tell you what—"

"Yeah." Korra thought about it. "So does that mean I nearly wasn't born?"

"No," Tenzin said so sharply Naga jolted. "That is not correct."

Korra pulled herself up and peered at Tenzin, whose eyes were as sharp as the blue arrow that seemed to point right at her.

"I believe that even if Aang had died that day, you would still be here. You would still be our Avatar."

* * *

Asami picked up a wooden horse in her immaculate fingers and moved it forward two spaces and to the right. She set it down with a thump on the black-and-white marble surface. Her slightly damp, ruby-red lips spread across her face in a beguiling manner.

Bolin scratched at the stubble on his chin. His hand hovered over a tall piece in the back row, then over a smaller guard in front. He glanced up at Asami, who winked.

"I feel like chess is a quantum game," Bolin said. "I play a move that may or may not be a blunder until I observe the response. And when I'm playing you, it usually turns out to be a blunder."

"Quit stalling and play a move, nerd."

"Don't rush me." Bolin hunched over the pieces. "It's like what you were saying before about how the number _banh_ shows up in places you wouldn't expect it. I know quantum mechanics is just about how light works, but I feel it in this chess game too."

"But quantum mechanics is everything," Asami said. She brushed her silky black hair behind her shoulder. "Professor Unalaq has nothing but scorn for people who say otherwise."

"I thought it was just about light."

"It is. But light is what relates mass and energy. It glues space-time together."

"You sure about that?"

"Pretty sure. When Professor Unalaq came out with that argument, he said that the long-gone Sun Warriors had the most accurate spiritual practice."

"I heard about that," Bolin said. "All the sages went after him, right?"

Mako's feet slapped against the lacquered wooden floor. "You guys still talking about that garbage?" He crunched into the remaining half of an apple.

"Bolin needs something to distract him from how badly I'm crushing him," Asami said. "Play with us."

"It's a two-person game."

"Bolin needs help."

"I'm probably even worse than he is."

"Then help _me_. That way he'll have a fighting chance."

Mako glanced at the board. "No thanks." He finished the last of the meat on the apple and started on the core.

"Don't eat that," Asami said. "It's not good for you."

Mako tilted his head back and swallowed the core in one gulp. He walked to the long corridor at the end of the room and disappeared.

"He doesn't like being taken care of," Bolin said. "Also, I think he's upset about his criminal empire lasting about a week."

"Criminal empires aren't good for your health," Asami said. "It's for the best."

Bolin finally made a move. He looked at her pensively. Asami smiled.

"What is he going to do now?"

"Mako? I don't know. Start again, I suppose."

"To what end?"

"I think…I think he just wants to bring balance, honestly."

"Don't we all." Asami moved a pawn. Bolin frowned, rubbing his chin.

"I assume there is some brilliant subtlety here?"

"Hardly. It's a revealed attack. You lose material." She laughed, not unkindly. "You're really bad at chess, you know?"

"Huh." Bolin studied the board for a moment, then and tipped his king over. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed. "Best two out of three?"

"And what are you going to do when all this has ended?"

"I'll stick with my brother."

"You're very loyal."

"It's a habit."

"Mako needs something to focus his energies on. You need a life of your own."

"No, I—"

"I'll talk to Daddy and see what he can do for you two."

Bolin's face was a deep crimson. "If I protest—"

"I'll ignore you. Don't you know I'm a rich man's daughter? I always get what I want."

Bolin starting setting up the pieces for another game. "I never did thank you for taking us out of that flooded gutter."

"What else could I do? You two looked so miserable huddling together in your drenched clothes."

"Eh, honestly, it was nostalgic."

"Besides, that red scarf caught my eye."

"Huh?"

"But Zolt's had gold dragons on it, right?"

"I…don't remember."

Asami leaned forward, bright red lips parting. "We know it is a theoretical possibility. Tell me, is he a lightningbender?"

* * *

"Sit," Jinora commanded.

Korra fought with her achy knees as they threatened to fold at the sound of the ten year-old girl's voice of command.

"Sit," Jinora said again, and Korra sat.

"Uh, Jinora, what are we—"

"Naga, come."

Naga came.

"Naga, sit."

Naga sat.

_"How are you doing this?"_

Jinora ignored her. "Now, Korra, face Naga." She sounded too much Arnook.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Korra cried, looking around in desperation for the source of her restraint.

Jinora raised an eyebrow.

Korra sheepishly faced her dog.

"You're lucky you're cute, kid, or I'd stick you in a box of earth for a week," Korra grumbled, picking at her bandages. "What are we doing, anyway?"

"We're meditating," Jinora said from behind her.

"I don't do meditating."

"You're trying again. And don't mumble! Straighten up!"

Korra turned her head to glare at Jinora.

She turned back around.

Jinora had _never lowered her eyebrow._

"Now I want you to relax, Korra," Jinora said. Korra heard her sit down. "I'll be right here close to you, sitting on the grass in the sun like this. Isn't it nice? Those are chrysanthemum growing over there. Aren't they pretty? You don't have flowers in the South Pole, right? We won't see the plum blossoms until winter, but I think they'll be your favorite."

"I don't care."

"You asked about the flowers before, at the very beginning, remember? What happened? Korra, you've changed. Accept it."

"I have not changed."

"What's most important to you?"

"Tenzin already did this with me. I want to be the Avatar more than anything."

"Liar. What triggered the Avatar State? Not your inability to airbend. Look at the flowers."

Korra looked grudgingly at the flowers. They were red, white, yellow, even pink and purple, and the petals splayed out openly.

"Which one are the chysanthe—chrysthe—"

"Chrysanthemum. All of them are. Chrysanthemum are important symbols to the Air Nomads. Azaleas, on the other hand, aren't so popular here. I think they're pretty, but you'll have to go into one of the parks in the city to see them. Or the Earth Kingdom, of course."

Korra gazed at the flowers as they swayed in the wind. "They're beautiful." There was nothing like them in the South Pole, not even the southern lights.

"Aren't they? Naga likes them too. She likes to stick her face in them and sneeze. I've seen her doing it."

Korra looked into her polar bear dog's eyes. "You like flowers? I never knew. I would have asked Arnook if we could have bought you some from outside." Naga didn't answer.

"I think Naga's happy to be here," Jinora said. "Does that make you happy, if Naga's happy?"

Korra stared into Naga's dark brown eyes. "Yes."

"How come?"

"She's my polar bear dog." Korra's voice was oddly hoarse. "Of course I love her."

"Naga is a point of light in your heart."

"Yes, she is."

"Think of that light. Hold that light there. Close your eyes and let that light flow throughout your entire body."

Korra closed her eyes.

"You can feel it, right? She's still there?"

"I can hear her breathing."

"And I'm right here."

Korra cracked an eye open. "I can hear you too."

"Then I'll be quiet. Until you can only hear my breathing."

Korra closed her eyes and breathed.

* * *

On a damaged island separated by the bay from the Avatar's city, where the four elements and then some met and became something more and something else, Tenzin and his family gathered with Naga at the center of the rent land to watch. The breeze blowed from the east, and the grass bowed to let it through. Jinora gripped her father's hand.

Korra took a deep breath, steadying her shaky legs. She set her left foot forward and pivoted in a long, smooth motion, bringing her arms around like she was feeling the inside of a sphere that only she could see, or maybe it was that she didn't need to.

The breeze changed direction. Korra sank to her knees, hiding her face in her bandaged hands.

"You did it!" Ikki, Meelo and Jinora swarmed her. Their tiny hands tugged at her arms until Meelo, losing all patience, jumped on top of her. They bore her to the ground, laughing. "There's four of us now!" Despite the sharp pain, Korra wrapped them up in her arms and held them for a long time.

She heard the crunch of grass in front of her. Tenzin knelt, smiling. "Congratulations, Korra. You're an airbender."

The air blew from the east again. The Avatar breathed it deeply. "Yes, I am."

The change in the velocity of the wind was temporary and local. Only one person in Republic City noticed the aberration, or rather, his many fine instruments set up around the city did. But such things were common from that island, and he took no notice of it as he prepared his testimony for the Avatar's trial.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

AN: I came up with the title of this chapter before Season 3 was even announced.

So I managed to get this far...again. It seems fitting that with the last season of LoK this should be my last attempt. I'd like to find out what happens next myself. Thanks to anyone still reading this. Leave a review, let me know what you liked and didn't, what you'd like to see and what you're worried you might see. We'll see. For now Korra has a trial to prepare for.

Episode 3 of Season 4 is, I think, the best we have yet seen from LoK. Episode 1 of Season 4 was one of the best too. This may be a very enjoyable season. Let's hope it keeps going strong.


	15. The Trial

Morning light streamed into the courtroom from windows thirty feet high. The constant click and flash of cameras and the clamor of the crowd made it hard for Korra to concentrate on anything but picking at her bandages while she waited at the bench. There must have been hundreds of people in the courtroom and thousands more outside. It wasn't often you got to see an Avatar on trial.

"Not since Avatar Suiko," Tenzin's lawyer, Osamu said. He set a heavy briefcase on the table. "Now she was a nasty piece of work."

"All rise!" the bailiff said. He had to shout a few times to get the noise to quiet down. "The City Court is now in session, the honorable Judge Rengan presiding."

A man in flowing black robes entered the room from a door in the back. He was tall, handsome and younger than Korra had expected. Browner, too. Was he from one of the Water Tribes? A wave of clicks and flashes fired as he made his way to the high chair.

The bailiff handed him a sheet as he settled in. The judge leaned down and said something.

"There will be no photography during the proceedings of the trial," the bailiff boomed. "All violators will be held in contempt of court."

"It's illegal to make the judge mad," Osamu whispered.

"Don't worry. I'm good at getting along with authority," Korra whispered back. That seemed to make him more worried.

"Today's case is _Republic City vs. Avatar Korra_," the bailiff said.

"Are both sides ready?" Judge Rengan asked. His voice was deep, smooth and incredibly intoxicating. If the scent of freshly brewed ginger tea could be translated into sound, it would be his voice. Korra couldn't help but touch the ugly splotches of yellowish brown that marked her unbandaged face and hands.

"Yes, Your Honor," the prosecution said. Osamu voiced his agreement.

"Very well. Prosecution, your opening statement."

The prosecutor, a short, thin man with thick spectacles, stood and nodded at the thirteen jurors sitting in three staggered benches to the side. "If it pleases the court and gentlebenders of the jury, I am Minh, Chief Counsel to Republic City.

"Innumerable witness can bear testimony to the crimes for which the Avatar Korra stands accused, to wit wanton destruction of city and private property, reckless endangerment of lives, causing physical injury of varying severity to thousands of people, assault and battery on a police officer, evading arrest, resisting arrest, and murder. You will hear testimony establishing both the Avatar Korra's responsibility for the destruction, injury and death visited upon Republic City in the recent calamity, and you will hear testimony to the effect that she willfully caused such destruction."

He sat. Korra's lawyer rose. "If it pleases the court and gentlebenders of the jury, I am Osamu, counsel to the defense.

"The same testimonies that will establish the correlation between Avatar Korra's actions and the destruction and calamity in Republic City will also establish that she was not herself but rather in the 'Avatar State.' Witness testimony will show the Avatar State is a defense mechanism the Avatar Korra did not deliberately activate but was triggered by fear and panic at an assault on her, to whit the kidnapping of her dog at the hands of the terrorist organization the Equalists, whom the police believe are responsible for the explosion at Pajau Yan. It will be further established that when in the Avatar State, it is the state itself that is responsible for the Avatar Korra's decision making. Korra herself was not in control of her actions at the time of the incident."

"Before the city presents its evidence," Judge Rengan said, "I would like to see the Avatar. Might she stand?"

Korra started. So did her lawyer. "That's, uh, highly irregular, Your Honor."

"Everything about this case is highly unusual," Judge Rengan said. "That's the thrust of your defense, isn't it?"

"It's illegal to make the judge mad, right?" Korra whispered, sounding more confident than she felt. She stood. The judge pretended not to see her, which was silly since of course she was sitting by her lawyer. "I'm here."

"Ah, Avatar Korra." His handsome blue eyes met hers. "I'm sorry we had to meet like this. I hope for your sake and ours your trial goes well. You understand, the eyes of the city are on you today in more ways than one. Whether you are acquitted is up to you today more than me. But, ah…." He tapped his chin. "My opinion counts for a lot too. You may sit."

Korra sat, unsure of what that meant. Her lawyer seemed confused as well. The prosecutor didn't seem much happier. He stood. "If I may call my first witness…." Judge Rengan nodded. "If it pleases the court, I call Police Captain Saikhan to the stand."

Police Captain Saikhan held himself straight as he walked to the shorter chair by the judge. He was balding, his face was shaven clean, and he took the oath with a calm, steady voice before sitting down.

The prosecuting attorney stepped out from behind his bench. "Could you please identify yourself to the jury?"

"I am Police Captain Saikhan, second-in-command to Police Chief Beifong."

"Can you describe what you saw on the day of the incident?"

"I was in my office when we heard the water. It smashed up the windows and started coming it, so I ordered everyone outside. The…tail…was hovering about six feet off the ground and curved up for a long way, spraying out water like a hose. When I followed it with my eyes I saw the Avatar Korra hovering above the city surrounded by a sphere of bubbling water. We could see even from far away that her eyes were glowing, they were so bright. The tail of water stretched out from her, and it looked to go all the way back into the bay."

"What did you do?"

"The streets were flooding fast. We weren't trained or prepared for this storm, but we decided to earthbend the streets into hills to stop the water from spreading. Later we sloped the streets so that the water flowed back into the bay. We sent other metalbenders out to find civilians in need of help."

"Who decided on this plan?"

"I did, mostly. We didn't have much time."

"What did Chief Beifong do?"

"She went after the Avatar."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She had spoken with the Avatar before and knows Tenzin, her airbending master, so I thought she would try to talk to the Avatar."

Korra's lawyer had barely begun to open his mouth before the prosecutor interjected, "But she didn't say what her plan was?"

"No."

"When had Chief Beifong and the Avatar previously spoken?"

"When the Avatar was arrested for the first time."

"How many times has the Avatar been charged with a crime?"

"This is the second time."

"What was the charge the first time time?"

"She broke several laws."

"Specifically?"

"Entering Republic City without the proper paperwork, smuggling an exotic animal—"

"What animal?"

"A polar bear dog."

"Go on."

"Smuggling an exotic animal into the city, panhandling, fighting, recklessly and willfully damaging city property, recklessly and willfully damaging private property, resisting arrest, and assaulting several police officers. And stealing a light bulb."

"So the Avatar has a history of breaking the law?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how the Avatar Korra felt about Chief Beifong after this incident?"

"No. I gather the Chief didn't like the Avatar very much."

"Did you see the encounter between Chief Beifong and the Avatar?"

"Yes. I was on one of the hills. The Avatar was up by the hospital—"

"Which hospital?"

"Pajau Yan."

Minh paused. Korra could guess why. The image would stick in people's minds, the Avatar glowing, surrounded by boiling water as she hovered in front of the damaged, bombed-out hospital. "What happened?"

"The chief swung toward the Avatar on her cables because the Avatar was so high up. I saw the Avatar Korra wave her arm. A wave came out of the sphere—"

"A wave came out of the sphere? What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't have thought it was possible if I hadn't seen it. There couldn't have been that much water in the sphere around her, but a tendril came out that grew so fast before I could blink it was big enough to flatten a building. It caught Chief Beifong up and swept her away. We're lucky she didn't die."

"What happened after that?"

"We kept raising the streets, but eventually the tail just stopped like the life had been taken out of it. It fell to the ground, and water stopped pouring in. The sphere around her was boiling the whole time. That must have been when she burnt herself." He didn't need to point out the bandages that covered her arms and neck where her clothes didn't.

"Did you try to apprehend the Avatar?"

"Some of our officers saw where she fell."

"And?"

"She incapacitated them and escaped. They reported being repeatedly struck and knocked out."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

Rengan nodded. "Defense, you may cross-examine."

Korra's lawyer passed the prosecutor on his way to the witness. "You say you saw the Avatar hovering in the sky before the incident with Chief Beifong. What was she doing?"

"I don't know."

"What did it look like she was doing?"

"It looked like she was searching for something."

"Is it possible that what she was searching for was her kidnapped dog?"

"Her polar bear dog, the one smuggled in illegally? Yes, I suppose it's possible."

"One more question. You said the officers reported being incapacitated by Avatar Korra. She fell out of the sphere of water because she was badly burnt. Are you familiar with the Avatar's medical condition after that fall?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"She was very badly burnt."

"How badly?"

"She couldn't walk. It took a team of healers to restore her."

Her lawyer directed his attention to the judge. "The Avatar's medical information is submitted as exhibit B-1."

"I have it," Rengan replied.

Her lawyer turned back to Saikhan. "How could the Avatar have incapacitated multiple officers and escaped in that condition?"

"I don't know."

"No further questions."

"Redirect, Your Honor." The prosecutor stood immediately. "Captain Saikhan, did the officers report seeing anyone else but the Avatar?"

"No."

He sat down and Korra's lawyer stood. "Captain Saikhan, is it possible in your judgment that the Avatar incapacitated your officers in that condition?"

"The Avatar is capable of many things impossible to others as we learned."

"Can you imagine any way in which she could have done what your officers said she did?"

"No."

"No further questions."

"It's not a hole in the most important charges," her lawyer whispered as she sat back down, "But we can at least show that there are gaps in their understanding of the events."

"There's plenty I don't understand about it either," Korra said.

"Your next witness, counsel," Rengan said.

"This next part will not be fun," her lawyer said.

The prosecutor called his second witness. A little girl who Korra had never seen before testified, after a bit of coaxing, that Korra had joined a Satocycle gang.

"I did not know this," Osamu murmured.

"It's not true," Korra said. "They joined me. And I have no idea who that is."

Then began a stream of witnesses. The questions all went the same. Where were you and what were you doing when the water struck? And what damages did you suffer? The testimonies went on and on. An artisan whose shop was destroyed. A woman who broke her wrist. A man who broke down sobbing on the witness stand for his daughter.

Korra's lawyer rarely challenged the events except to ask a clarifying question every now and then. Otherwise he asked each of the witnesses a single question: whether they had any reason to believe Korra had attacked them or their property deliberately. They recessed for lunch. Korra didn't eat.

When they returned, the prosecutor said, "The prosecution rests, Your Honor."

Judge Rengan yawned. "Finally. The defense may now present its evidence."

Her lawyer stood. "If it pleases the court, I call Councilman Tenzin to the stand."

A murmur ran through the crowd in the back of the courtroom. Tenzin was famous of course, the son of the previous Avatar Aang and the only airbending master in the world. That he was also the current Avatar's teacher made his role in this all the more exciting. Korra just felt bad that he was caught up in her trouble.

Tenzin took the oath seriously and sat down. He was tall enough that even sitting his blue arrow tattoo that curved his shaved head and pointed between his eyes was level with Osamu as he walked over.

"Can you identify yourself?"

"Representative Tenzin of the Air Nomads to the United Republic Council."

"What is your relationship with the defendant?"

"I am her airbending master."

"How is her training going?"

"She has recently developed the ability to airbend. I am confident she will have mastered her final element before long."

"When did she become able to airbend?" Osamu asked.

"Shortly before the trial, after the wave."

Osamu let that sink in. "I see. You were with the Avatar when the Avatar State activated?"

"I was."

"Can you describe for the court the events leading up to the triggering of the Avatar State?"

"Korra and I were at the memorial for the Pajau Yan Incident all morning. We left her dog, Naga, on Air Temple Island, naturally. When we returned, we found the White Lotus sentries who guard our island incapacitated and the Air Acolytes cowering."

"What had occurred?"

"Equalists posing as a tour group infiltrated the island and incapacitated the guards with chi-blocking."

Noise bubbled up from the crowd. Chi-blocking was a serious taboo. Judge Rengan banged his gavel, looking unruffled, and the bailiff shouted for silence.

"What did you do?" Osamu continued.

"I went in search for my wife and children. I feared they might have been the target of the attack."

"Were they?"

"No."

"What was the target of the attack?"

"Naga, Korra's pet dog."

"What did the Avatar do when she found out?"

"I didn't see her hear the news, but I saw her stumble out of the main hall. I didn't know myself what had happened yet, but she was clearly devastated. Then her eyes began to glow."

"Her eyes began to glow?"

"It's a sign of entering the Avatar State. I saw my father, Avatar Aang, enter the state several times. His eyes and airbending tattoos always glowed as bright as a thousand stars in the Avatar State."

"How does an Avatar trigger the Avatar State?"

"According to my father, only a fully realized Avatar who has undergone the requisite training can enter the Avatar State at will and control it. For a less mature Avatar, the Avatar State would activate whenever she feels threatened, and it would act to neutralize that threat."

"Was she a fully realized Avatar who had undergone the requisite training at the time of the trigger?"

"No."

"So according to the previous Avatar, she could not have deliberately enter the Avatar State, and once she was in the Avatar State, she was not fully aware of or in control of her actions?"

"Correct."

"What did she do when the Avatar State triggered?"

"She tore off part of the island. It is still gone, in fact."

"Did she do it on purpose?"

"It did not seem like it. She did not even look at the damage, nor did the bending motion seem aggressive. It was a simple semicircle with her curved hand, not a chopping motion like I might have used if I had the power and the will to use it in that fashion."

"What happened next?"

"She jumped into the water separating Air Temple Island from the city. Seconds later, she emerged within a bubbling sphere of water and took off with that tail behind her. I tried to follow her but could not keep up."

"In your judgement, why did the Avatar Korra go into the city?"

"To find her pet dog."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

Rengan exhaled. "Counsel, you may cross-examine."

"Permission to treat the witness as hostile, Your Honor?"

"Granted."

"It's just because Tenzin is obviously on your side," Osamu whispered. "It only means that he can be a bit more pointed in his questions. Don't worry."

Minh approached the witness stand. "Councilman Tenzin, what kind of pet is this Naga?"

"A polar bear dog."

"Was it legal for the Avatar Korra to bring in a polar bear dog from the South Pole?"

"No. The city chose not to charge her, however."

"Just as they chose not to charge her for stealing or for recklessly damaging city and private property."

"Yes."

"Why did the Avatar illegally enter the city? Why did she not come with you?"

"Due to the developing problems in Republic City, I was uncertain if I would be able to devote the proper care and attention to Korra's training, so I decided to delay bringing her to Republic City to train with me."

"So she entered the city, bringing a polar bear dog with her, not only illegally but against her master's wishes?"

"I was not her master—"

"Against your wishes?"

"Yes."

"And when she arrived in the city, she proceeded to get in a fight with metalbenders, smashing up a fair amount of the street in the process?"

"Yes."

"Did she stay out of the city after that?"

"No."

"What did she do in the city?"

"She became the Angry Star, hero to children everywhere. She did not break any laws. Vigilantism is legal here, a loophole for the Avatar, in fact. Rather, she punished those who did break the laws."

"Did she tell you of her activities?"

"No, but I deduced them immediately."

"She hid it from you?"

"It never came up."

"But she didn't tell you?"

"No."

"The Avatar Korra took it upon herself to police the city after the incident at Pajau Yan Hospital. Did she ask your advice or permission before doing so?"

"No."

"Reports of her movements include mention of conflicts with Equalists during this period. In your judgement as the Avatar's master, is it possible the Avatar may have behaved in a provocative manner toward the Equalists?"

"Anything is possible."

Minh regarded Tenzin. "Would you characterize the Avatar Korra's behavior as exhibiting a pattern of recklessness?"

"No."

"How would you characterize her pattern of behavior?"

"Korra is a young and sometimes brash girl who makes mistakes," Tenzin said, "But if she has any faults, it is that she is too earnest, too quick to pursue justice and to fulfill the mission of the Avatar at the expense of understanding." He looked at her seriously. "I have tried to teach her, and she has grown remarkably in that time."

"Do you think she provoked the Equalists with her actions the night of the riots?"

"Objection!" Osamu slammed his hands on the table. He thrust a finger dramatically in the prosecution's direction. "This is highly speculative."

"Your Honor, the question is to what extent the defendant can be held responsible for her actions," Minh said. "The defense's argument is that she was in a state of distress from the kidnapping of her pet polar bear dog. If she provoked the Equalists in such a manner that retaliation could have been expected, their argument…."

Judge Rengan waved a hand. "It _is_ speculative, so his answer doesn't mean much either way. The witness can answer or refuse as he pleases. I'm sure all you really wanted is for the jury to wonder." He banged his gavel. "Jury! Pretend you haven't been listening to this aside."

He winked at Korra. It was so quick and unexpected she wasn't sure if it had really happened. No one else seemed to notice.

Minh didn't seem to care. "Do you know of the message Avatar Korra left after her first outing as the Angry Star?"

"Of course. It is rather famous now. The Angry Star's akkuma—"

"That is not the original wording." Minh handed a document to Tenzin. "This is a report from Captain Saikhan detailing the original messages before they were changed by a vandal. Please read them."

Tenzin's eyes flew down the document. "Yes, she identifies herself as the Avatar. I wonder why someone changed that."

"And the second message? It is not so well-known."

Tenzin read it. "'Here's my paperwork.'"

"Do you know what that means?"

"I can't say."

"The Avatar was arrested for not having her paperwork."

"Objection," Osamu said, standing. "We have already gone over in detail the Avatar's previous, dismissed charges. The prosecution is attempting to argue by insinuation what they cannot prove."

"I agree." Rengan banged his gavel. "Produce evidence, counsel, or end this line of inquiry."

"No further questions."

"Good. Counsel, what dubious conclusion were you trying to imply?"

Minh hesitated. "What?"

"Jury, cover your ears," Rengan said, motioning to the bailiff as if to enforce his order. "Counsel, presumably you have some argument you can't actually make in court. Probably this is for the best. What was that argument?"

"I...I don't—"

"Now, please."

"A...between a psychologist, and some street urchins, we hypothesized—that is—the Avatar appears to have been in—to have imagined herself in a conflict with Chief Beifong over who is the protector of the city. The psychologist guessed that the Avatar has a superiority complex, and when it is unfulfilled, as we can only suppose would be the case when it comes to Chief Beifong, the Avatar becomes violent. In this possibility the Equalists would not see her as an agent of balance."

"Hm." Rengan's face was impassive. Korra's ears burned red. She stared at Minh. What was a superiority complex, never mind a psychologist, and what did that have to do with Beifong anyway? Violence? What was he talking about?

"I'd like to redirect, Your Honor," Osamu said after a long pause. "If that's all right."

Rengan waved a hand, distracted. Osamu stood up.

"Representative Tenzin, how would you describe the defendant's feelings about her pet dog?"

"Naga is her best friend whom she has cared for since she was a child," Tenzin answered.

"And her reaction to losing Naga would affect her mental state how?"

"She would be overcome with grief."

"Would she be able to think clearly?"

"No."

"That's all."

Minh waved away a recross, looking upset. "Your next witness, defense," Rengan prompted.

"If it pleases the court, I call Professor Unalaq to the stand."

The murmurs were even louder for Unalaq that Tenzin. Korra didn't know much about him other than Tenzin said he would be teaching her how to control the Avatar State. Osamu had said that he was a very controversial figure.

"But he's the only one with the authority we need," he admitted. "He's the best scientist in the world." Korra didn't know what that was.

Rengan banged his gavel. The noise died. Professor Unalaq appeared, walking through the crowd. He carried himself straighter than Captain Saikhan, stood taller than Tenzin and had skin darker than Rengan's. Someone else from one of the Water Tribes. His clothes, however, were city clothes: a jacket, trousers and a cap. His voice when he took the oath was more subdued than Korra expected from his appearance. He sat down in the witness stand and waited for Osamu to approach.

"Can you identify yourself to the court?"

"I am Professor Unalaq of the University of Republic City."

"What do you teach?"

"Everything."

"Can you be more specific?"

"This semester? Advanced quantum physics, intermediate anthropology, and introductory statistics."

"Do you do research?"

"Of course."

"What do you research?"

"Everything. Specifically, the question of light has become quite popular and controversial of late."

"Can you explain?"

"To a layman? Not easily."

"Can you try?" Korra could see how Osamu was struggling to maintain his composure. Unalaq wasn't cooperating on the stand. Hadn't they talked about the testimony beforehand?

Unalaq sighed. "I am capable of presenting a simple lie in the most abstract and childish sense to give you an illusion of what my graduate students need to understand to pretend to understand my lectures. To wit, the question is the nature of light. Is it a wave or a particle?"

"…I don't know. Which is it?"

"Who says it has to be either? Sometimes it looks like a particle, sometimes it looks like a wave. You don't know what either of those things are." He said it like a statement, not a question, and he sounded contemptuous. "I say—no, I have proven it is a wave-particle."

"What…what is that?"

"You don't know what a wave or a particle is, and you want to know what a wave-particle is?"

"As much as I'm happy to watch the defense self-destruct," Minh interjected, "is any of this relevant?"

Unalaq answered before Osamu could. "How would you know, since you do not know what I will teach your today?"

"Professor Unalaq," Rengan said, "Let your lawyer handle the lawyering and we will let you handle…material issues, as is your expertise." Korra wondered at how for the first time in the lengthy trial, Rengan's voice strained with impatience.

"Ah, forgive me, Your Honor," Osamu said. "The question of light is in fact highly important to the testimony, and I wanted to establish the witness's authority on the matter."

"We all know who he is," Rengan said. "Get on with it."

"Uh, yes, Your Honor." He coughed. "Professor Unalaq, do you know much about the Avatar State?"

"Assuming Representative Tenzin or Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe have not withheld any secrets of great importance from the White Lotus, then I know more than anyone."

"Can you tell us a bit about how the Avatar State works?"

"I can tell you a great deal. Specifically"—Osamu grit his teeth—"I can tell you that the Avatar spirit is not one but many. Each spirit is the spirit of the a star. It is the star's power that makes the individual Avatar life so powerful. It is the combination of many stars in one body that makes the Avatar so fearsome. The Avatar State is simply the Avatar drawing on the starlight of her past lives and not only her own star—that is, not only herself."

"How are stars powered?"

"Nuclear fusion."

"Can…can you please give a simple lie about what nuclear fusion is?"

"Certainly. Everything is made of smaller things until you reach the smallest thing, which is made of even smaller things. One of these even smaller things is called the atomic nucleus, which I helped discover. If you slam an atomic nucleus into another atomic nucleus while both are going very fast, they release a huge amount of energy. When this happens enough, stars are born. The energy that process releases we see as starlight."

"Starlight…which is a wave-particle?"

"My graduate students are wise enough not to attempt to apply their unearned knowledge in front of me."

"You will answer the defense's questions or be held in contempt of court," Judge Rengan snapped.

Unalaq did not so much as glance up at the judge. "Yes, starlight is a wave-particle."

"So when the Avatar enters this Avatar State, she is being powered by this, ah, nuclear fusion?"

"Yes."

"What consequences does this have for her behavior?"

"Leading—" Minh began.

"None," Unalaq interjected sourly.

"Never mind."

"What happens to the Avatar when she is in the Avatar State?" Osamu tried.

"The power of a thousand suns fills her," Unalaq said. Poetic as it sounded, his tone was dry. "Her past lives…awaken. I have never experienced it, but somehow their knowledge and wisdom are more readily available in the Avatar State than elsewhere."

"So the Avatar Korra should have been more wise in the Avatar State?"

"Not precisely. Only Avatars have ever entered the Avatar State, obviously, and their writings on the matter are scarce. What I have gathered with the help of the White Lotus suggests that when the Avatar State is triggered before the Avatar in question can control it, the Avatar State aims the stream of information from the past lives squarely towards the reason for the trigger. That is to say, if the Avatar State is activated because the Avatar is in danger, she will be filled with battle power and strike at her enemies. If the Avatar has fallen deep below the sea and is lost and confused, the Avatar State will teach him to surround himself in ice until he finds tranquility. If the Avatar State has activated because the Avatar has lost her dog, the Avatar State will give her what she needs to find what she lost. No more, no less. You might say that asking the question is the hard part."

"Asking the question?"

"The Avatar State will give her what she asks for and only what she asks for in the most efficient manner. Probably."

"Probably?"

"All theories are merely probably, and this one is more probably than most."

"What needs to be done to control entering and exiting the Avatar State?"

"An intense period of training focusing on the most fundamental aspects of the universe and their relationship to the self."

"Has the Avatar Korra undergone that period of training?"

"No."

"She could not deliberately enter the Avatar State?"

"Obviously not."

"So once the Avatar State triggered at the loss of her dog, could she have controlled it or paid any attention to the damage she was causing to the city and its inhabitants?"

"As I understand it, no."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

Rengan looked relieved. "Counsel, you may cross-examine."

Minh brushed dust off his jacket as he walked to the witness stand. "Professor Unalaq, how far is the typical star from our planet?"

"It varies. Some are only several lightyears away. Some are many hundreds of light years away. Our sun is much closer, of course."

"What is a lightyear?"

"It is the distance light travels in a vacuum in one year."

"So the light of a star that is, say, three light-years away would take three years to reach us?"

"Correct."

"Are there any stars other than our sun less than one lightyear from us?"

"No."

"How do you explain the Avatar being powered by light that takes several years at the least to reach her?"

"It is as you say. She is powered by light that traveled for years to reach her."

"But how do you explain—"

"Fate," Unalaq said.

Rengan banged the gavel. Korra jumped at the sudden crack of wood on wood. "Witness, do not interrupt the counsel while you are on the stand or I will have you held in contempt of court! This is your last warning!"

Minh waited for Rengan to settle down. "How do you explain the starlight being there just in time for the Avatar Korra to need it?"

"Fate," Unalaq said. "All this was determined long ago. The stars are a part of this dance, but also some of its senior architects."

"Is this theory well-accepted among your scientific colleagues?"

Unalaq's voice trembled with fury. "No."

"No further questions."

Rengan glanced at Osamu, who shook his head. "Fine, then. I have a question for you, Professor. Why do you know so much about the Avatar State?"

"I make it a point to know everything," Unalaq replied. "Specifically, however, it is because I will be personally instructing the Avatar Korra in how to control the Avatar State." His dark eyes met hers. "I look forward to our lessons together."

Osamu stood. "The defense rests, Your Honor."

"Vey well!" Rengan banged his gavel. "We will have a recess for twenty minutes. I need to stretch my legs. I would like to see the two attorneys in my chambers. I would also appreciate the company of Captain Saikhan and Avatar Korra."

Unalaq stood and walked out without a glance back. Korra was grateful for the opportunity to stretch, but Osamu looked nervous.

"It's not normal to ask a witness and the defendant into his chambers," he said. "Then again, nothing is normal about that Rengan. They say he has connections to the Hakka tribe."

"Uh…." Korra tried to place the name. "From the North Pole?"

Osamu nodded. "It's your choice. Want to go?"

"Can't hurt," Korra said. Osamu's face disagreed.

"Don't speak out of turn, don't say anything he doesn't already know from today's trial, and be very polite."

Korra nodded. They walked through the door to Judge Rengan's chamber.

* * *

Judge Rengan's chamber was small and darkly lit. The two attorneys, Police Captain Saikhan and Korra stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in the narrow space before Judge Rengan's desk.

Rengan steepled his fingers in front of his face. "Police Captain Saikhan, I asked you to join us here in order to keep a firm grip on the Avatar, should our accused criminal attempt to harm any members of the public."

Saikhan stiffed. "Yes sir."

Regan's eyes never moved from Korra. "But I understand the police are unwilling or unable to contain the Avatar?"

Korra grinned. "Really?" Tenzin's lawyer touched her arm.

"She's not a metalbender," Saikhan said, "So a metal cage should do just fine. Although I suppose this Avatar State puts even that into question. But there are also, uh, some of the officers believe that..."

"Religious matters," Rengan said. "I understand."

Minh coughed. "The original plea bargain reflected this reality."

"Which was rejected," Rengan said, "And rightly so. There must be no special rules for the Avatar."

"Why not?" Korra said bluntly. "I have a destiny to bring balance. Locking me up will just hurt people."

"Perhaps it is your destiny to spend a few years in jail," Rengan said. He looked displeased. Then he smiled. "Or perhaps the guilt of your crimes will spur you to spend the rest of your life in solemn duty to the world."

"Yup, that one," Korra said. "The second one." Osamu touched her arm again.

"The jury will find you guilty," Rengan said. "Unalaq is the only one who can speak to the nature of your Avatar State, and he is...not disliked, but..."

"You might as well have a spirit testify on her behalf," Osamu said sourly.

Rengan nodded. "Exactly."

Minh didn't look pleased to have won. "The Avatar will be sent to jail then?"

"I'm considering it," Rengan said. "But perhaps there's a way out."

Korra didn't like the way they were talking about her as if she wasn't there. "I thought there weren't supposed to be any special rules for the Avatar?"

"I can do favors for whomever I wish," Rengan said. "Whether you are the Avatar is irrelevant."

"That's not true," Korra said. Osamu gripped her arm and squeezed.

Rengan turned to Minh. "Perhaps we can pin things on Tenzin? He is her master, and she is his responsibility."

"It is a possibility," Minh agreed.

Korra shook Osamu off. "Don't you dare, or I'll..." She stopped. It was probably a bad idea to threaten to burn them all. Control, control, breathe, breathe.

"Someone died because of what I did. I shouldn't be allowed to get away with that."

"You want to go to jail?"

"No. But still. Not even the Avatar should get away with that."

"Oh, brother," Rengan sighed. "Eventually it comes out. Fine, I've made my decision."

He dismissed them. Korra protested, but Rengan snapped and Osamu managed to pull her out.

The trial reconvened. Then it halted again while the jury went to deliberate. Twenty minutes later they were back. Korra was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to thirty years in prison. Rengan banged his gavel. The trial ended. A bailiff came and escorted Korra away while the crowd exited. Twenty minutes later he brought her out again. Osamu filed an appeal to the verdict based on some long string of precedents, which Judge Rengan accepted. He banged his gavel. The appeal began. It ended ten minutes later as Minh and Rengan capitulated to all of Osamu's demands. Korra's sentence was extended along one margin and reduced along another. Instead of thirty years of prison she was tasked with "...Lifelong pursuit of justice and peace with utmost feasance to the laws of Republic City, bound forever in service to the City and her people."

Rengan banged his gavel. He looked at Korra. "Earn this."

Korra clenched her fists and didn't answer.

* * *

The next day, Korra's lessons with Professor Unalaq began.


	16. The Materialists

Tenzin dismissed Jie Ming from her service as an Air Acolyte. Korra hired her as a chi blocking master.

"I don't have any bread," Korra said, shutting the door to her room. Naga was squished between the bed and the wall, tongue splayed out on the floor. In front of the bed was a bucket of water.

"I don't need money." Jie Ming looked tense. Korra began to lift her shirt up.

"Should I—?"

"No, shut up." Korra dropped her top on the bed and turned her back to Jie Ming. "See how it's all yellow and splotchy? I want to make sure my body heals at one hundred percent."

"I'm not a doctor."

"I am." Korra drew the water out of the bucket and set it on her back. "But I was never very good at it without Katara's help. You're going to help me get all the chi flowing properly."

"The White Lotus has doctors—"

"No."

So Jie Ming knelt behind Korra and placed her hands on her back. She pressed.

"Ow!"

"Everything in your back has to pass through this point in your spine. It should be your focus."

Korra concentrated. The water glowed blue.

"…Probably," Jie Ming said. "Am I to be your doctor, then, Avatar Korra?"

"Nah, I want you to teach me chi blocking when I'm better," Korra said. "Seems useful. I could do with some subtlety. Besides, who would expect the Avatar can chi block? I could take someone out and pin it on you." She smiled.

"…I am uncomfortable to be around Tenzin."

"So?"

Jie Ming exhaled heavily. "Why me?"

"Because you're honest and plain," Korra said. "Same way I am."

Jie Ming was silent.

"Also because I can destroy you." Korra drew the water into her hands. "I'm going to do the front now. Don't be weird."

"I wasn't! I won't!"

* * *

Professor Unalaq was impatient and demanding.

"You didn't show your work," he said, refusing to look at the answer.

Korra pushed the paper at him. "I got the answer anyway. I just figured it out, okay? It's right."

"It is approximately correct. That is very different from being exactly correct."

"It's good enough."

"It is not."

"It was good enough for Arnook! I did this stuff with him, charting stars and stuff."

"Arnook intended to develop your spiritual intuition. With me you will develop material exactitude."

"Like fighting." Korra thought of Jie Ming's pinpoint strikes. She still wasn't in shape to do them herself, but Jie Ming had demonstrated at her command.

"Like fighting! Exactly!" Professor Unalaq's hand slapped on the table with alarming force. "You have no room for error! Everything must be precise, efficient! Now find the resulting vector exactly."

Korra glared at the mess of arrows on the paper. The numbers didn't hold still. Instead they shimmered, rotated, and swirled across the page. They hung upside-down, laughing at her. Korra stabbed one with the pen.

"No."

"You didn't even look." Korra scrawled something on the page. "See?"

Professor Unalaq pushed away from the desk and strode out the room, muttering, "Of all the Avatars I get the ones with the brains of a grade schooler."

Korra winced as the door slammed shut.

"What's grade school?" she said to Asami, Professor Unalaq's assistant.

Asami smiled politely. She did that a lot, Korra noticed. Pretty much any time Professor Unalaq did anything, Asami would smile. Whenever Korra said anything that smacked of tunnu, Asami would smile. Korra wondered if her face was broken. Maybe that's why she wore so much paint on it.

"Engineers used physics to build bridges," Asami said in the voice she used when she was trying to be nice. Korra just wanted the answers. "Imagine if they only got things approximately correct. The bridge might not reach all the way across, or it might collapse under its own weight. It's very important that we be as correct as possible."

"Bridges? Is that what this is?" Korra stared at the mess on the page and then back at Asami. "Like to the Spirit World?"

"I…I suppose."

"So which bridge did you build?"

Asami stared at her. "What?"

The door flew open; Professor Unalaq stormed in. He grabbed the paper with Korra's work, crumpled it and hurled it away.

"Hey!"

"It's useless with your condition," he said. Behind him, Asami picked up the paper and smoothed it out.

"What condition? These bandages are coming off real soon."

"I thought you might develop true understanding. Now I see that is impossible."

"Uh, you have to teach me," Korra said. "I have to develop harmony with the cosmos or whatever so I can control the Avatar State, remember?"

Professor Unalaq glared at her. Korra glared back. Asami smiled politely.

The silence dragged on. Finally, Korra rolled her eyes and said, "_But_, the student who asks a question assumes the responsibility of the teacher of herself, which obviates the need to be taught by others."

"Exactly," Professor Unalaq said.

"Is it just you and Arnook who use words as long as caterpillars, or is it all of the Materialists?"

"All of us, I'm afraid," Asami said, her eyes twinkling.

"If you have time for levity, perhaps my lessons are not a priority," Professor Unalaq said coldly.

Korra clenched the legs of her chair. "No, Professor Unalaq. I'm very interested in learning how drawing arrows on a piece of paper can get me in balance with the universe."

"I doubt it. What are the four elements?"

"Water—"

"Wrong. What are the four elements?"

Korra cocked her head. "Water—"

"Wrong."

"Do you want them in a different order? Earth—"

"Wrong."

"What is your problem?" Korra demanded. "You asked me to name the four elements, and then you just say 'Wrong, wrong' over and over. I'm the Avatar, master of all four elements—"

"Wrong."

Korra looked at Asami. "I'm going to light him on fire."

"Do not err," said Professor Unalaq, "and I shall not tell you you have erred."

Korra crossed her arms and leaned back. "So what are the four elements, o master of error?"

"In the order you chose, elan vital, corpuscles, phlogiston, and the quanta."

"Now you're just making words up."

"Elan vital corresponds to water. It is the element of life, and life is born from water. It is the saturation of water with elan vital that allows it to be used to heal.

"Corpuscles are the solid, material stuff of the universe. They are what gives the world substance. Thus it corresponds to earth. Corpuscles also play an important role in vision—it is the manipulation of corpuscles with their entire bodies that allows metalbenders to see attacks from all angles.

"Phlogiston corresponds to fire. It is the stuff-that-burns. Flames die when the phlogiston is used up, but we will never run out of fire, for it is made when people breath. Hence the connection between firebending and breathing.

"Finally there are the quanta, the least understood of the four elements. The quanta correspond to light. They are the freest of the four elements, terribly fast and, indeed, the interface between—"

"It should correspond to air," Korra said. "Light isn't one of the four elements."

"I am getting to that. Light is the border between the material world and the spiritual. The spirits are luminescent beings. Humans are corpuscular—air is opposed to earth. And if you take away the air, people die. If you take away the light…thus quanta corresponds to air."

"Take away the light? What are you going to do, tear apart the very stars in heaven?"

"Focus. You are the first Avatar to hear the true names of the four elements."

"What are you talking about? I didn't understand any of that. The four elements are water, earth, fire—"

"Wrong."

"Stop interrupting me!"

"An element by definition must be the most fundamental thing. I tell you that water can be broken into elan vital and other things, corpuscles are a component of earth, there is no fire without phlogiston to burn, and air without the quanta is life without choice."

"What are you talking about?"

"Quanta are indeterminate."

"I don't know what that means!" Korra shouted, surprising herself. Her throat was hoarse. There was something terribly important about what Professor Unalaq was telling her, but she couldn't understand. It frustrated her terribly, and she wanted to scream at him.

"Suppose choice is fundamental. The Avatar glows with light when she enters the Avatar State. She is master of all four elements. They _are_ the universe, and, perhaps, so is she."

"I just thought the elements were things I could beat people up with."

Unalaq sighed. "Review vector calculus with Asami—"

"Is that what we were doing?"

"—And we will meet again tomorrow at the agreed time. I expect your attitude to have significantly improved by then."

He left.

Korra kicked back in her chair, her fists balled in frustration. "Is it just me?" she said to Asami. "Seriously, that guy is a huge jerk."

"He's like that with everyone," Asami said, doing that smile again. "How are you?"

"Angry. Frustrated. I didn't understand anything he said. How am I going to master the Avatar State with a teacher like that?"

Asami spread out the sheet of arrows and numbers that Professor Unalaq had discarded on the table. "Shall we try this again?"

The numbers wouldn't hold still. "You're Asami Sato."

"Yes."

"Is that like Satomobile?"

Asami nodded.

"You made all that stuff?"

Asami laughed. It was a pleasant sound, like chimes tinkling. "Not exactly. That was all my father, Hiroshi. But I've been working on some things of my own, actually. Things for self-defense."

"Fighting?"

"Self-defense. Because of all the chaos recently. We also need to supply the nonbender police officers with something other than chi blocking. Criminals are already starting to wear armor."

"Show me."

So Asami took Korra on her Satocycle to her house, or really the huge basement underneath it.

"This is where I do a lot of testing," Asami said. Korra's gaze stretched across the long room. Testing? Like the ones Professor Unalaq made her do? How long were they, to fill the whole room?

Asami pulled something out of a compartment. It looked like a brown glove.

"This is top secret," Asami said, "and it's only a prototype. Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure."

Asami made a fist. Electricity crackled across the glove.

"You can lightingbend!" Korra gasped. "Did Mako teach you?"

Asami's eyes widened. "What?"

"He was supposed to teach me," Korra said, now feeling rather annoyed. Where was that liar, anyway?

Asami blinked. "I…I don't…."

"What is that glove, anyway?"

Asami rallied. "It's, uh, it's a weapon that deals an electrical charge to the target. Should be enough to incapacitate anyone on the receiving end. I call it Future Industries Shock Touch. F.I.S.T., get it?"

"Okay. Jie Ming is teaching me chi blocking. We can spar once I'm better."

"That…that would be an honor, Avatar Korra."

The door from above opened. Light streamed in.

"Hey, Asami, I got those books that you wanted," a familiar voice called.

Korra peered at the descending figure. "Bolin?"

He squawked. "Korra?"

"Oh, you two know each other," Asami said. "Just remember, what happens in the Satocave stays in the Satocave."

And so it was that when Korra's wounds healed she went "out on the town," as Asami put it, for the first time in her life. Korra liked the idea. It sounded violent.


End file.
